


Next Time Around

by rangerofdiscord



Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: (no character death tho), Chorus Trilogy AU, Death, Gen, Some angst, Tex lives AU, Violence, slight nsfw
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-08
Updated: 2018-07-03
Packaged: 2018-10-29 12:54:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 55,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10854423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rangerofdiscord/pseuds/rangerofdiscord
Summary: The thing about memories is, they're hard to get rid of. Especially when that memory doesn't want to go away.RvB Chorus Trilogy AU where Tex doesn't "die" in the memory unit. She survives, she thrives, and she kicks some ass.





	1. Cocteau Twins - Alice

**Author's Note:**

> This is an AU I've had in mind since mid-2015, while RPing Tex on tumblr I came up with a verse where she lived in order to RP her during the Chorus trilogy. I've been debating whether or not to write it out and post it for a while now, as some of it relies on my own personal version of Tex and her backstory/history which can be canon divergent in some places. I'll try to work on expanding that through flashbacks and what not. I'm hoping I can actually finish this dang thing, so we'll see how far I can get into it. Also, do not expect chapters as long as this one. Please. 
> 
> Also, each chapter will be named after the song I listen to the most while writing the chapter. Feel free to give it a listen, it'll give you a good idea of the mood I was going for.

Memories are funny things. Sometimes they’re blurred, twisted together and hard to remember. Confused and disjointed. You can’t really remember if that one thing happened the way you wanted it to, or if you just have an overactive imagination. But for every thousand memories like that, you have one memory that stands out. Crystal clear, in perfection and you can remember every single detail so much that it’s so perfect and wonderful. 

Tex wasn’t like that. She was the thousands of blurred, disjointed, twisted together memories. Each memory of Allison, worn by age and a desire to remember things differently, or better yet, to remember them as perfectly as you could. But the more you think about it, the harder you try to recall those little fragments and pieces, the worse the memory gets.

She was a collection of those memories. Worn by age and over thinking, and too much desire to make her something she wasn’t. The truth was, Allison Church wasn’t a perfect person. She couldn’t pick up a two ton warthog and throw it over her head. She didn’t always obey orders, and sometimes she lost her battles. More than that, she was average. Medium length golden blonde hair that was always tangled and messy. Freckles all over her face in random disorder, a large scar across her nose, eyes a bit too wide apart, large nose, imperfect proportions-- 

Allison wasn’t perfect. She never had been. It was Leonard’s desire to make her perfect that had ruined her. And that was the problem with Tex.

 

She was dying. The world had gone dark, the tremors from the memory unit were getting worse. Everything was telling her to close her eyes, go to sleep, give in to the darkness and fade out of existence like she should have years ago. 

But she couldn’t. There was so much more she had to do-- she had to get out she had to find the Director and make him pay for everything, for what he did to her, to the Alpha, to York, to North, to Wash, to Carolina. She had remembered everything and now she knew what she needed to do. Where she needed to go, to find him and make him pay. 

So Tex clung desperately to her life. She didn’t want to be forgotten, she didn’t want to die she had to live. Sure, being alive could suck. But only when she was being dragged around by the Director and Church. And now she was in a place where she wasn’t going to go after them, be dragged around by them. She had her own agency.

Of course, after fucking pointing out to Church that he always assumed what was best for her, he’d try to wipe her away without even asking what she wanted. It could have been so simple, too. “Hey, Tex, do you wanna fade away into nothingness? No, you want to outlive the Director and make sure he pays for what he did? Oh, cool I won’t just assume what you want.” 

She was falling. Her armor was off. Blonde, straight hair whipped around her face, arms stretched out. Memories were flashing past her, memories of Allison and Leonard that she had watched time and time again. Watching them go past her, she clung to this. Clung to existence. There was still something in her telling her to go to sleep, but she was fighting it off so hard-- 

“It’s opening! It’s working!” Caboose’s loud voice boomed, coming from all around her. She couldn’t see him, all she could see were all of those memories, flicking by her so quickly it was almost dizzying. 

“I see him, I see him! He’s in there, he’s okay!” He said again, the memories flickering faster and faster. 

“What? Let me see, moron. It’s just a bunch a circuits.”

“Yeah, but they’re glowing! He’s alive!” Caboose’s voice was happy, and suddenly Tex realized what was going on. They had opened up the memory unit, Church was being saved. 

The memories began to shatter and fall with her as Epsilon was pulled out, and desperately Tex reached out, thinking to herself, “Take me out, too, please. Don’t fucking leave me in here and forget about me, I’m alive I’m here I want to be free!” 

“Well get him outta there!” Sarge’s voice cut through everything, and the memories cascaded around Tex like glass. She was still falling, but now she was upright, reaching up, up up, desperately wanting to get out. 

The memories were gone. Darkness enveloped her. Church was gone. He had forgotten her and left her there to rot. 

 

She came to on a cold, metallic floor. There was no light in the room except for a small computer that flashed lights, casting a silhouette around a man hunched over it, muttering to himself. 

Disorientated, and confused, Tex pulled herself up. A hand went up to her head, rubbing the temples. In the memory unit, she was able to give herself a human body, which meant human pains came with it. Rocking unsteadily on her feet, she groaned, briefly closing her eyes before getting a bearing on where she was. 

She was still in the memory unit, she knew that much. It was just a question of where, or rather what memory. Everything was still a bit disoriented due to the fact that most of her memories came from Epsilon, who couldn’t remember them in the right order.

Glancing around, she noticed a bed that looked like it had never been used, no head indent on the pillow, sheets and blankets pristine and perfect. They were basic military-standard bed sheets and blankets, and the whirring of engines made her feel like she was on some sort of military ship. Perhaps the Mother of Invention? 

Turning around slowly, she noticed how sparse and bare the room was. The only decoration was a small photograph on the desk by the computer monitor. Everything else was plain. It was definitely a military ship, and as she watched the man more, she came to the realization that she was watching the Director. Hunched over, forever working. Never sleeping. 

She took a step forward, curious, wondering where in the Project she was. Would he be able to see her? Or was this like most of the other memories she had been in, where she could watch but she couldn’t control. It was like watching the TV, only she was in it.   
Reaching out, she almost touched him, when she heard slight movement behind her. The Director had, too. But still he went on, rubbing his goatee as the numbers on the screen flashed rapidly. 

Metal boots clanked across the floor, and as Tex looked back she suddenly knew where she was. When she was. 

“I know what you’ve done.” Her voice rang out, breaking the silence of the room. “You…” Her rage was barely contained in her voice. Fists bunched up as her armor slowly uncloaked, revealing herself. 

Sighing, the Director didn’t even turn to look at her. Backing up, Tex watched. “You’ll have to be more specific, Agent Texas. I am quite busy here.” 

“Busy figuring out how to torture Alpha next? Busy figuring out how to set me up against Carolina, have her hate me more?” Tex in the memory paced around, moving back and forth, her hands twitching to her knife or pistol randomly. 

“Ah.” Closing out of his program, he finally turned to look up at the memory version of Tex. His hands folded in front of his face, he tilted back in his chair, legs crossed. Those green eyes of his were cold and tired, bags underneath them. Tex just continued to pace, glaring daggers at him from underneath her helmet. “How did you find out?” 

“Connecticut. She knew everything, she gave me all of the information she had. You bastard. You lied to me, made me think I was real, made me think my daughter was dead and--”

“She isn’t your daughter, Texas. She never was. You’re not Allison, that much is clear. We’ll have to start over, rewrite you--” 

When Tex moved, it was in the blink of an eye and suddenly the Director was lifted out of his chair by his throat, gasping for air. “You think I’ll let you do any of that? Fuck no, I’m not letting you fuck me up any more than you have.” Letting him go, she stood above him, wrath and rage incarnate. Epsilon-Tex was remembering it all so quickly. The anger she had felt, the betrayal.

She had loved him, trusted him, she would have done anything for him and he had used her and tortured Alpha. He had lied to her. First about who she was, what she was. Then about the Alpha, and Carolina. Everything she was was built upon a lie.

But what was worse was that he had given her a piece of the fragmented AI and acted like it was no big deal. A piece of him, his rage and anger, to control her even more. She had wanted nothing more than to rip him apart limb from limb, and Omega had been in her head, whispering such sweet ideas on how to murder him, how to make it hurt the most and last the longest. 

“What are you going to do?” He coughed, trying to get up from the floor, but she wouldn’t let him she couldn’t let him. She was in control, not him. So she lifted her boot, placed it on his chest and sneered at him. “Kill me?” 

“Oh, no Leonard. Why would I want to do that? That would reunite you with her wouldn’t it? The real Allison. Not the one you lied to all this time.” She tsked, shaking her head. “I’m going to take everything away from you. Alpha, Carolina, your Project… I am going to burn it all to the fucking ground and I’m gonna sit back and watch you lose everything you’ve worked so hard for.” Her voice was sickly sweet, almost as though she were cooing to him in bed, telling him how good he was doing how wonderful he made her feel. 

“And how the hell are you going to manage that? You have nothing, Texas. You think Carolina will go gladly to your side?” He chuckled, shaking his head. 

“Maybe, maybe not. She might go to York’s side, though.” The pressure from her heel only got more intense. “We’ll see.” Suddenly it was gone, and she stood back. 

“When I come back, you can bet your pathetic fuckin’ ass I will tear apart this ship just to get to Alpha, Director. I don’t care who is in my way, send me your best. I’ll throw them at your feet as I rescue him, and I’ll laugh in your face.” She stood, so tall, chest puffed out so confident of herself and her victory. If only she had known back then.

Hearing something outside, she looked back briefly. York was calling to her.

The Director tried to reach for a pistol, but she was too quick. Pulling him up by his shirt so that they were face-to-face, she merely laughed at him. Laughed at how weak he was compared to her.

“I have to go now. G’night, Leonard. And… Goodbye.” The last word was said so lovingly and affectionate, it caught the man off guard, so his face was one of surprise as she tilted her head back and hit him with it. He crumpled to the ground, knocked unconscious. 

The memory faded. 

 

It went on like that for hours, days even. She cycled through various memories, watching herself. Sometimes she was at Blood Gulch, engaging in the crazy shenanigans the Simulation Troopers engaged in. Remembered why she had grown to care for them, and even almost regretting being a dick to them. 

Sometimes she was back in the Project, watching Carolina in her coma. Kissing her forehead, brushing her hair back tenderly and murmuring goodbye before running off with York because she was Allison’s kid, and it’s what she would have wanted.

Sometimes she was at Blood Gulch. Watching over everyone, outside of her body, in AI form. Just standing there. Watching. Making sure Alpha was okay. 

Each memory brought on a new onslaught of thoughts, ideas, desires. But one question ran through her mind, going through the Beta’s memories: Why am I not like her?

Despite all of the shit she went through, the Beta had still been happy. Laid back, relaxed. She made jokes, she seemed to care for everyone. She wasn’t bitter and angry, like Tex was. 

What happened to me? Was all she could think, all day and night, watching herself. What had happened to her? Was this how Epsilon had remembered her? As some bitter, bitchy fuck that just wanted to hurt everything and everyone around her? Was that who she was? 

She wanted to change. She had to change. It was all she could do, stuck in the memory unit, wandering from memory to memory. With each memory, a piece of her changed. She found herself laughing at a stupid joke York or Tucker might make in a memory. Her heart heaved when she thought of Carolina, falling from that cliff. She grew defensive of the Reds and Blues when O’Malley threatened them. 

Tex was changing, for the better. Being bitter and angry had served her, for a while. But that wasn’t who she was. It was who Epsilon saw her as. Some bitter, angry bitch who hurt her friends and didn’t care if she hurt anyone as long as she got what she wanted. And that was not her. She was bitter, sure. Angry, hell yeah. But those emotions didn’t define her. 

Maybe it was for the best that Church had left her in there. Sure, he didn’t really know she was stuck, but she still couldn’t help but put some blame on him. He had tried to kill her without asking her if that was what she had wanted, and then he had been rescued, leaving her there. It still stung, even if she was doing much better than she ever had. 

She was reflecting on all that while in a Blood Gulch memory. Not much was going on, they were just standing around in their separate bases arguing while memory her looked on. So she laid back, feeling the warm sun on her skin, watching the clouds pass over her. She had no concept of time in the memory unit. Hours, weeks, days, months could have passed outside of the unit, and she wouldn’t have known any better. 

Closing her eyes, she groaned and ran a hand over face. She missed social interaction. Being able to talk to someone and have them reply. She missed being able to actually fight shit, not just try to and have it backfire on her because the people weren’t responding to her physical attacks. It sucked.

At first, the memories had been a bit nice. They were a refresher. But now they were getting old, and she was getting tired of them. That’s why she had finally gone to Church in the first place. She had gotten tired of going through Leonard’s memories of Allison, she had been bored and had needed something different, something unique. So she had finally given in and gone to Church. 

But now there wasn’t anyone to go to. If she ever got really bored she debated trying to make her own little world where she could interact with people, but that required work and a working imagination. 

Till she could finally work up the strength and energy and motivation and all that crap to make a world of her own, she was stuck cycling through memories on shuffle mode. And that thought pissed her off. 

Groaning again, she sat up quickly, pulling her knees up. The heat was beating down on her, causing her to sweat profusely. Church started shouting from below, yelling at Caboose for some idiotic comment he had made. Like always. 

Resting her head on her fist, she yawned, blinking slowly. There was a noise in the back of her head, a whirring sound, like an engine on a spaceship. Thinking that she was just imagining it, she shook it off, trying to focus on what Church was saying. 

“Caboose, I swear to God if you don’t shut the fuck up--”

“The memory unit is buzzing?” Someone asked, loudly. 

“Yeah, it just woke up all of the sudden when I put it with the rest of the stuff we recovered from the Freelancer base.” 

Something was off. The voices cut through the memory like butter, so loud and present. They weren’t voices she recognized, either, and the situation felt familiar. Getting up, Tex looked at the sky. It was gone, and she was looking up at two boring soldiers, who stared down at the memory unit in confusion. 

It was open. 

“Could just be a reaction to being around more Freelancer tech, I thought the Epsilon AI was stolen from it.” One of the men said, scratching his chin thoughtfully. The other looked dumbly down at the unit, his brows knitted together. They were holding it, and behind them she could see her body, standing there, waiting for her. Her suit of armor.

She could be free. 

Church screamed at Tucker for taking Caboose’s side, “Oh don’t you start on me, Tucker.” 

Memory Tex tsked at Church, shaking her head. 

The soldiers continued to talk among themselves about the memory unit.

Knowing this might be her only chance, Tex mustered up every bit of energy she had and jumped.

There was a body in the suit, similar to the original Beta’s android body that the Director had given to her, in the hopes she might not catch on to his lies. Wires and circuits functioned as neurons and nerves, sending jolts up her body. She stood behind the men, perfectly still. Not wanting to scare them, or let them know she was there. There had to be a cloaking mod, the Director had always given it to her, why not fit this body and armor with one too? 

While she searched around for it, one of the two men grumbled and set her prison down. “Weird, it shut right back down again.”

“I’m telling you, Carl, it was probably just reacting to being around Freelancer tech, again. You know how crazy that old man was, we got no idea what his tech is like.”

“True.” Carl scratched his head, then shook it and began to walk away. “Still weird though.”

“If you wanna report it to a higher up, by all means do so.” His friend walked with him. “I’m just saying, don’t wanna get em worked up over something that doesn’t really matter.”

“Yeah, yeah..” A metal door opened then slid shut as they walked under it. When they were gone, Tex activated her handy active cloaking unit. She had been right, of course her body was outfitted with one. 

Taking a first step, she couldn’t help but let out a small laugh. She was walking. She could run and fight and punch, and do all sorts of things. She was free. 

Now she had to figure out where the fuck she was, and how long she had been trapped. Taking a quick assessment of her surroundings, she determined that she was on some sort of ship, in a cargo bay with lots of… Equipment.

Broken bodies that were hers lay strewn across the room. Boxes were labeled with different armor modifications, former Agents’ armor stood up nobly along one edge of the room. It was like someone had taken everything from the Project and shoved it in one tiny space. 

Feeling almost claustrophobic, she found a door on the far side of the room, and opened it quickly. She wanted to be out of that room as soon as possible, and she needed to find some way to figure out where she was and when she was. 

She stepped out of the room, and made her way down the hallway, boots clanking on the ground as she looked around. It was a military ship, laid out very simply, almost like the Mother of Invention. Taking a few turns here and there, she tried to find a computer terminal that she could access for information. 

After a few minutes of wandering around, she finally found one tucked away in a corner of the ship, close to some dorms. Working quickly, she bypassed the simple password and logged on, scanning through different files. Months had passed since she and Epsilon had gone into the memory unit, that much was certain. At least three or four. 

Frowning, she began to try to figure out where he had gone, if she could. As she typed in a few key words, someone spoke from one of the open dormitories, a familiar voice cutting through, 

“I still don’t know why you all want to go back to Valhalla. What are we even going to do there?” Carolina asked, sending jolts up and down Tex’s body. Looking away from the computer monitor, her body moved of it’s own volition, towards the open door.   
Carolina. Carolina was alive, that was her voice talking to someone. How was she alive? And here, on a ship. 

“I dunno, it’s what the guys want. I never spent most time there anyways. Only time I went there was when I was following the Reds and ended up shooting a laser out of my face.” Church chimed in. 

Church. Carolina and Church were alive and together and talking. Forgetting her anger at him momentarily, Tex took a step forward, wanting to go in there, to make sure it was them and to find out what was going on.

That, of course, was when all hell broke loose.


	2. Trocadero - Bloody Mary Mix

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything goes to shit when you least expect it, or maybe when you should expect it the most, but at least Tex reunites with her idiots.

Everything was going to hell. The overhead lights above were flashing on and off, a bright red. Carolina rushed out of the room, past the invisible Texas. Her armor was all the same, the same color, same style… It was her. She had survived. 

An automated alert came from the ship's loudspeakers, a simple “The ship is crashing, all crew members please report to your designated sections.” Where the fuck was she supposed to go? 

Swearing loudly, she slammed her hand onto the console, splitting it in two. Wires and sparks flew out of it, but she couldn’t have cared less. She turned, heading down the same hall that Carolina had, hoping that the other woman wasn’t too far ahead of her. The ship was like a maze, in some ways. So many different turns and twists to take. Who the fuck knew where Carolina might have gone? 

The ground swayed beneath her feet, before everything suddenly lurched forward with a sickening noise. Again, Tex swore, as she had forgotten how to enable her grav-boots and thus was falling forward at an increasingly fast pace. Fumbling around in her suit, she deactivated and reactivated her cloak before the grav boots finally were enabled. 

By that time, she had fallen quite a bit, and smoke had started to fill the corridors. Grunting, she hastily checked her surroundings. She had no idea where the fuck she was, and the red lighting mixed with smoke was making it difficult to see. Voices came from one room, and two people sprinted past her, grabbing onto the wall for their dear life. 

“The ship is crashing, all crew members please report to your designated sections.” The automated message rang out again. Grabbing onto a doorframe, Tex swung herself around and found herself in a common area. Food, books, and other recreational items floated around in the air as the ship's artificial gravity started to fail. 

“We’re breaking through the atmosphere!” Someone screamed from behind her, rushing down the hall. She glanced back, and almost missed realizing where she was. 

“Well men, like I always say. Today is a good day to die.” A familiar voice grumbled, and someone responded, loudly, 

“Maybe I don’t want to die in a stupid ship crash!” 

“Yeah, I didn’t even get that girl's number! I can’t die now!” 

“Will you all just shut the hell up?” 

It was like being in Blood Gulch again, in the memory unit. Everyone had something to say, everyone was bickering and there was no peace. 

But fuck, this wasn’t how she wanted them to see her again. When had they last seen her? After she had tried to kill the Meta and Wash, and shot Church? Right after she had kicked all of their asses? They all probably thought she was dead, and reappearing randomly while the ship they were on was crashing was not a good idea. 

Still cloaked, she backed away, slowly. She wanted to stay close to them, so that she wouldn’t lose them, after all, Carolina was alive and she needed to talk to her. To apologize for everything, for not saving her from the Meta. And Church, well. They needed to talk about what ‘Stop assuming you know what’s best for me’ meant. 

She took another step back, which was, of course, when the whole fuckin’ ship imitated the Titanic, split open, and crashed. Because of course it did. 

 

Tex was doing a lot of “blacking out and waking up confused and disorientated” for an AI. When she came to after crashing rather violently, she found herself curled up on the edge of a cliff. The circuits and wires told her that she should be in pain, so every part of her was sore. There was a small crack in the visor of her helmet, but she could fix that easily once she got her hands on some tools.

Pushing herself up into a sitting position, she pulled her helmet off and rubbed her head, fingers running through her hair. Surveying her surroundings, her lips were set in a tight line. Blue skies meant they had crashed on a planet with an atmosphere, which was good. And plant life, which was even better.

Looking down into the canyon below her, she continued to rub at her head, wondering if she was the only survivor. She was an AI in an android body, it made sense that a crash couldn’t kill her. But everyone else…

Bits and pieces of debris from the crash were scattered across it, fires here and there. But there was movement down below, colorful movement. Through the upper canopy of the jungle, she could see a group of people moving around, and talking. From below, someone shouted at another. A gruff, southern old voice. 

“Private Grif, front and center on the double!” 

They had survived too. 

At least some of them had. Sarge and Grif, at the very least. But there were flashes of blue here and there, on the other side of the canyon. How long had she been out? Had they already started building their own bases? 

Frowning at herself, she reached back, pulling her hair into a makeshift bun before putting her helmet back on. She stood up, stretched out, and looked for a way down, into the canyon. Jumping would have been easy, but she didn’t want to scare the shit out of them, especially since Carolina was with them. 

Licking her lips, she paced back and forth, so focused on finding a way to scale down the cliffs that wouldn’t scare anyone. She was above a large makeshift base, made from the ruins of the ship. The jump down wouldn’t be too far, and from there she could move to the left and scale down the rest of the cliffs. 

Activating her camo, she carefully jumped over the edge of the cliff, more falling than anything else. She wanted to be careful, and make sure she didn’t cause too loud of a noise, so as to not scare anyone below her. 

“Hey, Church! Church, come down here!” Caboose shouted from below. Looking at him, she followed his gaze, and saw two blue-hued figures standing across the way, before they turned and left. “We wanna show you something! Church!” 

They were already gone.

It didn’t surprise her, not really, she thought as she climbed down the cliff face. Well, more like a controlled fall than a climb, but it was still slow work, so as to not scare anyone. And that time gave her time to think, to wonder why they might have left. Maybe they were scouting out where they were, which wouldn’t surprise her. Carolina had always been very thorough in the Project, even when she was blinded by a desire to beat Tex on the Leaderboard. And figuring out where they were was the first step in radioing for help, assuming someone already hadn’t. 

Hitting the ground with a grunt, she wiped herself off. She had made it. Now she just needed to figure out how the hell to reintroduce herself. Maybe she could go with her classic, “Buenos Dias cockbites, guess who’s back?” That felt right. Natural. Lighthearted. Would set the tone for how she wanted the interaction to go.

A gun was cocked right next to her, and she looked up, right down the barrel of an assault rifle, held by a guy wearing Church’s armor. 

“Why don’t you go ahead and uncloak yourself, whoever you are.” Wash said, making Tex want to swear. Of fucking course Wash was still alive, and with the idiots, and had noticed her. After she had tried to kill him.

Rolling her eyes, she held her hands up and turned to him. The active camo came undone, and she raised an eyebrow. “Who the fuck do you think I am?” 

“Wait..” He faltered for a moment, the gun lowering slightly, and it was almost enough that had she wanted to, she could have disarmed him. But she didn’t. She just watched him, arms raised. “Tex?” His voice had that familiar, signature confused tilt to it. “You’re alive?” 

“No shit, dumbass. What the fuck else would I be?” 

“But-- You were dead. We didn’t rescue you from the memory unit, and Epsilon took care of you back at the facility--” He looked away as Tex interrupted him, 

“The fuck do you mean he ‘took care of’ me? What facility?”

“You mean you don’t know?” That confused tilt to his voice turned into something that almost made it seem like he felt bad for her. “Wait, how are you alive? Let’s start with that.”

Slowly lowering her arms, she shrugged, folding her arms across her chest. “Let’s see… After the Meta stabbed my fucking face, I kinda wandered in the memory unit for a bit before going to Church. Then I got mad at him, then he decided that in order to alleviate himself of all of his shit, he was going to ‘forget me’ and let me go. I almost died, but clung to whatever fucked up existence I have, you assholes apparently rescued him, I got left behind, spent months in a memory unit reliving my memories, some assholes on the ship opened the unit up, I jumped out into my body…” Once more she shrugged. “Ran into you fucks, the ship crashed, I woke up here.”

“Jesus Christ. I mean, when Epsilon came out without you we all kinda assumed something had happened to you, but.” 

“But nothing, Wash. Church did what Church does best. Even if he had good intentions this time around.” Shaking her head, she looked at him again. “So, once more, what facility? What the hell has happened since I went into the memory unit?” 

Wash began to talk, but Tucker interrupted him, “Hey, Wash, where are you? Church and Carolina fucking disappeared, man, we can’t find them.” He turned the corner, saw Tex, and froze in place. 

“Hey, Tucker.”

“Okay. What. The. Fuck.” 

 

In retrospect, she shouldn’t have really been surprised at how much talking they had needed to do. Surrounding a table in the makeshift base, they had each gotten their turn about talking about what had happened. Although Wash and Tucker did most of the explaining about what had happened, and Caboose just interjected with random shit.

The Director was dead, and Tex wasn’t quite sure how to feel. She hated him. But she didn’t want him dead, that felt almost too good for him. She had wanted him to suffer, to rot in a prison knowing what he had done and living with it for the rest of his sad, lonely life. 

But nope. He had shot himself, because of course he had. Too much of a coward to face the consequences of his actions. 

At least he was gone.

Then there was the fact that he had tried to make her again, and again, and again. From what Wash and Tucker had described, there had been over a hundred Tex’s all fighting to protect… What? The Director? Or had they just been programmed to fight? And how the hell had he made her? 

“So, Epsilon just..”

“Took care of it. It was kinda cool, in a way. He spiraled out, and all of the sudden all the different Tex’s just froze and shut down.” Tucker explained, waving his hands around in a circle. 

Sitting cross legged on the table, with her helmet to one side, she frowned. “And none of you know how he ‘took care of’ me?” 

“Oh! I know! What if he asked you very nicely to stop?” Caboose shouted, to general silence.

“I uh, have my theories, but..” Washington gave her a side glance, and she shrugged. 

“I’m just curious.” 

“Anyways, how the hell did you end up surviving the memory unit? I mean, Church didn’t talk about it after we got him out but we all kinda assumed you were dead.” Turning his attention to Tex, Tucker raised an eyebrow at her. “C’mon, give us the juicy details.”

Sucking in a breath, Tex debated exactly what she should tell them. There wasn’t really much she could say without sounding like she was trying to demonize Church, and with him gone she didn’t really want to fuck anything up between Church and Tucker and Caboose. She had already unloaded some of her emotional baggage on Wash, but Tucker and Caboose were different.

“I guess, the best way to put it is, Church tried to kill me. In a way. I don’t think ‘kill’ is the best word but there really isn’t a better word for it.” Tucker and Caboose gave her wide stares, their jaws slightly open, but Wash gave her a concentrated look. “He felt like the best thing for both of us was for him to let me go, and forget me. It was fucking stupid, and he didn’t ask for my opinion but. That’s Church, I guess.” 

“What happened after that?” Tucker pressed on, and she sighed, her eyes drifting up to the ceiling. 

“It’s kinda hard to explain. Have you ever seen like, the ending of 2001 where the dude is fucking traveling through space with all the lights? It was like that, except with memories instead of lights and I could hear you guys rescuing him. When he was gone, there was just darkness and then all of the sudden I woke up and started going through a bunch of old memories.” A slight shrug. 

Letting out a low whistle, Tucker shook his head, while Caboose asked, “What is 2001?” 

“One fucked up movie. That Kubrick asshole had to have been on something.”

“I’ve never seen it.” Wash said, looking at Tucker. 

“Oh, bullshit. I know York and North used to watch it all the time, The Director always got pissed at them for smuggling on movies to watch in the rec room.” 

“How would you know?” Tucker shot at her, and she shrugged once more. 

“Being teacher’s pet meant I gotta listen to him rant about the most mundane shit ever. He was kinda a jerk, back then.”

“Wasn’t he always a jerk?”

“We’re getting a bit off subject..”

“Right. Yeah.” Shaking her head, Tex sat up. It felt nice to be back in an environment that was relaxed, where she felt comfortable talking. “Anyways, I kept reliving my old memories till some idiots on the ship that crashed open the unit up. I saw one of my bodies, jumped into it and… Ta da. I’m back, fuckers. Ready to kick ass, and all that shit.”

Running a hand over his chin, Wash gave her a long look, and she stared back. “Right. Kick ass. Like back at the ruins of the Mother of Invention?” 

“Oh, yeah, what the fuck was up with that, Tex? Didn’t you shoot Church?” Tucker asked, turning to give her a long look too. Caboose was the only one who stayed neutral, 

“You can join the club now!”  
Ugh. “Yeah, I did. I shot Church, blew up Wash and the Meta, and got my face fuckin’ stabbed for it, then spent what felt like an eternity sitting in that damn memory unit learning the ‘error’ of my ways and all that shit.” Both Tucker and Wash continued to give her a look, so she sighed. 

“Listen, I won’t deny, I’ve always done some fucked up shit, alright? I’ve always believed that sometimes, people have to die for the greater good. It’s just the way the world works, in my not-so-humble opinion.” Tucker snorted. “But I learned something, okay? I’m tired. I’m tired of being bitter, and angry. That’s all shit I got from Church.” 

“When I was in the memory unit, I realized something. Do you know what the original me was like? After the Alpha had forgotten her, and she watched the Meta throw Carolina off a cliff? She was still… Her. She went to Blood Gulch, happy and relaxed and… Calm. So that’s what I’m going to try to be. Happy, relaxed and… Calm.” 

“So... No dick punches?”

“No angry lady?” 

Giving Tucker and Caboose a slightly amused look, Tex shook her head. “Nah, not unless any of you cockbites deserve it.” 

“Sweet.” Giving her a grin, Tucker leaned back and sighed. “It sure will be nice having two kick ass freelancers on Blue Team. Welcome back, Tex.” 

“If Tex is back, can we make her a welcome back cake?” 

Snorting, she rolled her eyes. “Hey, who says I wanna be on Blue Team? Maybe I prefer Red Team, or wanna be neutral or some shit.” 

“You were on Blue Team before.”

“I was hired.”

“Still counts.”

“Fuck you.” 

“Bow chicka bow wow.” Tucker just continued to grin at her, almost daring her to punch him. So she just picked up her helmet, and threw it across the table at him. 

Catching it, he smirked, tossing it back to him. “You missed us. Oh, hey, shit.” Sitting back up, Tucker looked over at Wash. “I totally forgot, Carolina and Church are gone.”

Wash had been staying quiet the whole time, his arms crossed, with a slightly bemused look on his face. But he turned to Tucker, and frowned. “Yeah, I noticed they slipped away earlier, but--” 

“No dude, like gone gone. Caboose saw them leave, they left something up on a hill above Red Base.” 

“He’s right. I saw them both disappear.” Tex added, leaning forward. “It was right after I woke up. They were just a blur from where I was, but I saw them leave.”

“They might have gone to find help, or food, or something.” Tex could see Wash’s frown only deepen. “Why don’t the two of you go over there and see what it is they left?” He asked, the question directed at Tucker and Caboose. “It might have been a note, or something else.” 

“Good idea!” Caboose said, his voice full of wonder. “And if it is a note, then maybe it will be a cool one, like the ones Delta used to give me!” 

Getting up, Tucker looked doubtful as he put his helmet back on. “I dunno man, looked too big to be a note to me, but who the fuck knows with those two?” He looked at Caboose then nudged him. “Anyways, c’mon Caboose let’s go see what they left for us.” 

“I will lead the way!” Bouncing up, Caboose darted out of the room at almost inhuman like speeds, followed by a weary Tucker. Watching them go, Tex couldn’t help but smile. 

“You know, as much as they may get on my nerves, I have to admit. I kinda missed those idiots.” She said fondly, glancing back at Wash.

He turned to look at her, frowning again. It was weird, seeing Wash this way. The last time she had seen him without his helmet on, he had been so young, so full of youth and naive optimism. Now he had grey hair poking through his sandy blonde hair at the temples, and deep bags under his eyes. Gone was the happiness, replaced by a fucked-up state of mind only Project Freelancer could make. 

“We need to have a talk, Tex.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all of your kind words about this fic <3
> 
> This chapter was a bit interesting to write. Adding in more characters is interesting. My ability to write Caboose is struggling a bit, but I plan on watching RvB11 soon to try and make up for that. Also, if you haven't seen the scene I referenced from 2001 look up "2001: A Space Odyssey "Star Gate" sequence" but be warned, lots of flashing lights VERY quickly.


	3. Fleetwood Mac - The Chain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wash and Tex have a brief, but needed talk, while Tex gets closer to Tucker as they walk around the canyon.

Sitting up a bit, Tex watched as Wash paced around her. When he finally turned to her, she raised an eyebrow. “You said you wanted to talk, Wash. I’m waiting.”

“I’m just trying to figure out what to say. Or, how to say it without you hurting me.” Running a gloved hand over his exhausted face, he took a seat, looking up at her from where she sat on the table. “I don’t trust you.”

“No fucking shit.” 

“I might not want you to be here.”

“Well, tough fuckin’ luck with that.” Settling back down so that her elbows were resting on her knees. “I’ve known those idiots longer than you, you’re not kicking me out just because you have trust issues.” 

“You attacked us--”

“I attacked you and the Meta. I didn’t attack them. Well. I did, but that was different.” 

His eyes narrowed at her from across the table. “You still attacked them. How are we supposed to know you didn’t crash the ship? Or that you can be trusted? For all we know, you could be one of the Tex’s the Director made to protect him.” 

It was weird to be reminded that the Director had created versions of her that were meant to protect him. Another reminder of how she wasn't always in control of her own life. “Why the fuck would I crash the fucking ship?” She asked, sounding flabbergasted. There was no reason for her to crash the ship. There was no one on it that she wanted dead. “And didn’t you all say that Epsilon deactivated those other Tex’s?” 

Wash just continued to stand there, watching her. So she kept on talking. “God dammit, listen, Washington. I don’t give a fuck what you think about me. I really don’t. You can not trust me all you want, I probably deserve some of it. But I am tired of people controlling me, and controlling what I do. So I’m staying here, and if you have a problem with it you can take it up with Tucker and Caboose.” 

Wash was silent, and they stared each other down for what felt like forever, before he finally pushed away from the table. “Why do you want to be here?” 

“Wait--What?” The question caught her off guard. “Shit, I’m not sure. I guess I’m just. Weirdly happy around those assholes.” 

“Yeah, but why not go after Church and Carolina?”

“Given the fact that Carolina probably still hates my guts and last time I saw Church he was trying to erase me from existence? I’m not sure I want to be around either of them. And I think that’s for the best, for now.” 

“Right.. Yeah. Of course.” He stroked his chin thoughtfully, looking away from her. 

“So…” Tex trailed off, leaning forward. “We good? ‘Cause this whole glaring and being angry with me shit is going to get really old, really soon. Also I want to check the area out, in case of like sneak attacks or shit.” 

Nodding, Wash moved to put his helmet back on. “Good idea. We can both go out, and I’ll go check up on Caboose and Tucker.” 

 

“Looks like Wash hasn’t kicked you out yet.” Tucker commented as Tex approached him. He was holding a sniper rifle in his hands. Church’s. With one hand he tossed it to her, and she caught it, glancing down at it. “If anyone should have it, it should be you.”

Holstering it on her back, she tipped her head up to the outcropping she had seen Church and Carolina on. “Did you find anything else? An explanation as to where they went?”

Tucker just glanced over at Caboose, who was babbling to Wash, and shook his head. “Nothing. Just that sniper rifle. They just… Left.” 

“Figures.” She wasn’t really surprised. Just disappointed. “Well, they could still come back. Maybe they’re just trying to figure out where we are, or trying to find civilization.” 

“Yeah.. Maybe..” He muttered, as Caboose and Wash joined them. 

“Think someone should let the Reds know?” Wash asked. 

“I think someone should at least let them know Tex is around.” Tucker replied, tilting her head over towards her. “Don’t want Sarge trying to shoot her.”

“I’d like to see one of you idiots try to shoot me.” She scoffed.

Since coming back with Wash, Caboose had seemed a bit down and uncharacteristically quiet. But suddenly her perked up again, clapping both of his hands together. “Ooh! You could bake the Reds and pie and give it to them!” 

Tucker, Wash and Tex stared at him for a moment, not sure what to say. Finally, Tex asked, “Why the fuck would I do that?” While Tucker asked, “Do we even have ingredients for a pie?”

“Oh, you know. You’d make it for them because you are new to the neighborhood!” He nodded to all three of them. 

“Okay, ignoring the fact that I highly doubt military rations could make a pie…” Wash sighed, “It’s the other way around, Caboose.” 

“Yeah, it should be the Reds making Tex a pie.” 

“I can’t even eat pies.” 

“Oh. Right. Robot body, well Sarge could make you like grease oil or something.” 

“That.. Somehow even sounds nastier than a pie.” 

Letting out a loud sigh, Wash just muttered, “Jesus Christ.” Before speaking up, interrupting Tex and Tucker’s banter. “Listen, nobody is making anybody a pie, okay? I’ll go over to Red Base, make sure they know Tex is back and let them know to keep an eye out for Church and Carolina, got it?”

“Yeah, okay, but what about us?” Tucker asked, crossing his arms. 

“What about you?” 

Raising an eyebrow, Tex said, “I think they’re waiting for orders, Agent.” 

Slowly, Wash looked at both Tucker and Caboose, who sat there, waiting expectantly. “Uh, well…” He trailed off, and Tucker snorted. “Tucker, why don’t you go with Tex and walk around the perimeter of the valley? Caboose, you can…” Trailing off again, Tex could practically hear the frown in his voice. 

“Caboose can either head back to base, or he can go with you.” She suggested, hands on her hips. “Sound good to you, Caboose?” 

“I would like to go with Agent Washingtub, please.” 

“See? We break up into pairs, and it all works out!” She beamed at Wash, not waiting for a response before turning to Tucker. “C’mon, we got a lot of ground to cover and I don’t think you wanna walk around out here at night. We’ll meet you two back at Blue Base later.” 

“Right.” Tex could tell Wash wasn’t sure how he felt about her giving Caboose orders, but she didn’t really care. She was older than Wash, and just a teensy bit more experienced in dealing with the Sim Troopers. “See ya then.” 

“Have fun.” Tucker said to Wash and Caboose, following Tex as she moved towards one of the huge cliffsides. They were both silent as they walked, listening to Wash as he got Caboose to follow him while they went to Red Base. 

Snickering, she shook her head. Watching Wash interact with the Sim Troopers was interesting, she had to admit that much. Even if she didn’t necessarily know how to feel about it. “So, you told me you idiots had taken Wash in. What you didn’t tell me was why? I mean, didn’t he shoot Donut and Lopez and wasn’t he the bad guy?” 

“Yeah, but before that he was apparently pretty cool with everyone. And we did need a good leader, and it just seemed… Wrong that he’d go to prison.” Tucker fell in with her pace, looking up at the large cliff face. “Why? Jealous there’s another Freelancer on our team?” 

“I’m just not used to there being another Freelancer involved who isn’t trying to kill one of you.” She pointed out, also taking the time to look up at the cliffs. A memory came to mind at the sight of all the layers of rock. One that wasn’t hers, but was meant to be. 

Leonard and Allison had gone on a road trip one summer, with Carolina. They went to the west, through deserts filled with geological wonders. But something had gone wrong, there was a rattlesnake, or something, and Carolina had gotten hurt so they had to spend the rest of the vacation in a military hospital. 

Like the rest of the Director’s memories of Allison, they were vague and cloudy. A result of the memory being passed on from him to Beta, from Beta to Epsilon and from Epsilon to her. So many different layers, just like the cliff. 

“Yeah, I gotta admit it’s a bit weird. But Caboose likes him, and he’s not that bad once you get to know him.” He cut through her reverie, and Tex looked away from the cliff. She had to focus. 

“I know. I didn’t talk to him much in the Project, but he was a good kid.” She said, making sure to look up at the top of the cliffs every now and then. “Got a lot of shit from everyone else. But I didn’t think he was that bad at fighting.” 

“Can I ask you something?” Tucker asked, and she glanced over at him. He was looking straight ahead, one hand on his sword as if someone or something might pop out at any random moment. 

“Shoot.”

He stopped then, so Tex followed his lead, turning to him. “What was the Project like? I mean, Carolina, she dragged us along with her to find the Director. And I know he tortured the Alpha, and the shit with the Meta was bad but… What was it like?” 

Out of all the questions he could have asked, she wasn’t quite expecting that. And she wasn’t sure what to say, in response to it. “To be honest, Tucker… My experiences with the Project were different from Carolina and Wash’s.” Not wanting to lose a second of daylight, she motioned for him to follow her while they talked. 

“The Director kept the original Tex separate from everyone else, even when she was sent out on the same missions as them. She never trained with them, never took the same classes, wasn’t supposed to interact with them much…” 

“That, and my memories are still a bit… Weird. Vague and blurry sometimes. Comes from being the fragment of a fragment, I guess.” She shrugged. “But I can tell you this, the Project started out good but in the end, nobody trusted anybody. Not that you can blame them. They were all turned on each other.” 

“Huh.” Taking a moment to process what she had told him, the two of them walked on in silence. Always being vigilant. “So, was the Director really as big of a dick as everyone acts like he was?” 

“Why are you obsessed with this stuff?” 

“Listen, Tex. You weren’t around, you were stuck in the memory unit, but Carolina and Church dragged us from place to place, berating us if we didn’t know where the Director was or where he could be. I just want to know why. Like, I get he tortured the Alpha and was a dick, but was letting him kill himself worth it all?” 

Letting out a sigh, she shook her head before responding. “He used me to torture the Alpha into splitting so that he could have more AI, and he didn’t give a shit about anyone. Not even me. He used the other Agents as experiments.”

“So, do you think it was worth it?”

“How the fuck am I supposed to know, Tucker? Like you said, I wasn’t there. I’m just glad he’s not able to fuck over more people’s lives.” 

“Yeah, me too.. I guess.” 

 

As they circled back around the canyon (Or was it a valley? Tex couldn’t be sure the differences.) Tex noticed Wash standing towards the largest piece of the ship, looking up at the sky. He was completely alone, and to her it looked like he was talking to himself. Raising an eyebrow, she glanced at Tucker. 

“Does he always do stuff like that?”

“Like what? Standing around cryptically while saying cryptic shit to himself? All. The damn. Time.” 

“Yeesh. C’mon, let’s get back to the base.” She said, as they turned and headed back to Blue Base. Caboose was sitting out front of it, cross-legged but as they approached he hopped up to greet them. 

“Tucker! Tex! You have returned! Just in time too!” 

“Hey, Caboose.” Throwing her gun to the ground, Tex flopped onto the hard soil, legs spread out as Tucker joined her. “Why’d you come here and not stick with Wash?” 

“Oh, yeah. See, he wanted me to come here because had important gerrymandering to do, so uh. I came back here to wait for you guys!” He exclaimed, while Tucker and Tex just stared at him. 

“Gerrymandering, huh?”

“Don’t you mean like… Fuck, I can’t even figure out what he was going for there.” Tucker said, groaning and stretching out. 

“Ah, yeah. Sometimes not even I can know what I am going for.” Caboose said, watching them stretch out. They were strewn in front of the tank that had been on the Hand of Merope, which Wash had quickly claimed for Blue Team, citing the fact that Red Team had jeeps. Tex just hoped it wouldn’t be necessary.

Unlatching her helmet, she tossed it to the ground and pulled out the messy bun she had tried to put her hair in early. Soft strands of pale blonde hair floated around her as she slumped back on the ground, stretched out. The sky above her was changing as the sunset to the north. Because alien planets and shit. 

Soon, it would be dusk. Her favorite time. 

As she and Tucker relaxed, Caboose started to wander off. “Hey, Caboose, where ya going?” Tucker asked before Tex could bother. 

“I am going to see if Agent Washington is done with gerrymandering before we make dinner!” He responded, turning back to wave at them as he made his way to the front of the canyon. “Do not start without me!” 

“Ugh, have fun.” Tucker leaned back on the ground, stretched out with Tex as they watched the sun set. Clouds passed by every now and then, but not many. 

“Do we even have rations?”

“Yeah, some perishable food items and some military rations. Enough to last us a little while. Why?”

Rolling onto her stomach, Tex shrugged a bit. “Just curious. Wanted to know how long we could go without sending out like, search parties for food and all of that.” 

“Oh. Yeah.” Obviously bored, Tucker took out his sword and started drawing random shit in the ground with it, after sitting up. “Hey, d’you think Church and Carolina will come back?” 

She took a minute to think about it. Based off of what she remembered about Carolina, she wasn’t so sure. Church? Maybe. Carolina? She had no idea. “Who the fuck knows? I mean, I hope so but.. Can’t live the rest of our lives waiting for them.” 

“True that. Do you miss him?” 

‘Who?”

“Church, who the fuck else?”  
“Just fuckin’ with you.” Or trying to. “Why do you ask?” 

“I’m honestly not sure. Boredom?” 

“Right.” Rolling onto her side, she looked at him. He certainly did look bored, sitting there poking random holes into the ground. He wasn’t even looking at her, although she wasn’t sure if that was out of fear or focus on what he was doing.

To be honest with herself, she didn’t know how to answer him. A part of Tex wanted to be more honest with the Reds and Blues, it was the least she could do after all of the shit they went through. And it wasn’t like she didn’t trust them enough not to tell them. She just wasn’t sure if there was a line she shouldn’t cross with them, some boundary between being close and being too close. 

And, on top of that, she wasn’t sure if she knew the answer to his question. Did she miss Church? She thought she had. But having had time to think, there was an underlying sense of anger, and maybe even fear surrounding the thought of seeing Church again.

Church had the power to kill her. To wipe her from existence. And he had tried to do it once, without even taking into consideration what she wanted. What if he didn’t want to see her again? Would he try that shit a second time? 

But she wanted to talk to him. To know that he knew she was alive, and happy and for him to know how he had fucked up and to hear him apologize. 

So who the fuck knew?

“I guess. Got to see him a bunch while going through the memories, so it’s not that bad. But yeah, you could say I miss him.” 

“Even if he’s a total asshole?” 

“You’re all assholes, to me.” 

Snorting, Tucker put away his sword and stood up, stretching. “Ugh, I hope Wash and Tucker get back soon. I could go for some grub.” 

“And I could go for you not complaining.” 

Looking down at her, he winked. “I’m sure we could find a way to make that ha--” 

“Tucker!” Caboose suddenly shouted, rushing back to the base with Sarge in tow. “The Reds have given us a proposition!” 

Standing up with, she and Tucker exchanged a quick glance as he went on, “We should really send them back some sort of thank you basket.” 

“Proposition just means a choice, you idiot.” Tucker stated, shaking his head.

“Oh…” Caboose looked thoughtful for a second, “We will take the fuzzy one.”

“But you don’t even know what the proposition is yet!” Sarge said, and Tex noticed he gripped his shotgun a bit tighter as he approached the three of him, his visor turned to Tex. 

“Well then we don’t that it isn’t fuzzy, then do we!?” 

Groaning, Tex interjected, “What proposition, Sarge?” 

Still gripping his shotgun like she might attack at any second, which wasn’t really a bad thing for him to be doing, Sarge looked at her. “We would like to borrow your tank, in exchange for…”

“For…?” Tex prompted, leaning forward with a grin. Oh, this was going to be good. 

“In exchange for us not taking your teammate prisoner!” He shouted, pointing to Caboose. Tucker and Tex both watched him, before Tucker started laughing. 

“Right, okay.” Tex grinned, “Why do you want the tank?” 

“Yeah, how are we supposed to know you won’t just kill us with it?” Tucked asked, and Sarge just looked between the two of them. 

“Dang nab it. Why couldn’t it have just been Caboose guarding this base?”

Rolling her eyes, she pressed on, “Just tell us, Sarge.” She was genuinely curious. 

“Our quarters are too cramped together! So I decided it would be best to your tank to make us more room, for us to build more living spaces!” He said, glancing between Tex and Tucker. “It’s the perfect idea!”

This was even better than she had imagined. Of fucking course Sarge would want to use their tank to blow up his own base to make more room. “Okay, Sarge, what do we get in exchange?” 

“Uh-- What do you want?” 

Tex looked over at Tucker, who shrugged. “I’m good.” 

“Okay, fine.” She turned her attention back to Sarge. “I wanna watch.” 

“You uh, you what now?” He asked, sounding slightly nervous. That grip got only tighter. 

“I want to watch. I like seeing shit get blown up, and it’s only fair that if you use our tank to blow shit up, I be there to watch.” Sticking her hands on her hips, she just continued to grin at him. Not only was she enjoying how painfully uncomfortable he was around her, because it was just a bit funny, she might get to see shit be blown up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Normally most of my song titles are songs that relate to the chapter content, but this one wasn't really too related to it. I just heard it while watching Gotg2 and have been obsessed with it ever since. 
> 
> But here we are. This chapter took a bit longer than I wanted too, writers block was induced by losing a family pet and I forgot where I was going w/ this chapter. Wash and Tex's talk is a bit different than I think I originally planned it, and a bit shorter. But hopefully it serves a purpose. 
> 
> And we're finally at S11, which means I can start rewatching it and figuring out exactly what purpose Tex will serve throughout it. It'll be interesting. 
> 
> I also want to note, I might not be the best at writing Tucker/Caboose/The Reds. It'll probably take some practice, but I'm open to constructive criticism and some points in good directions.


	4. First Aid Kit - My Silver Lining

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With Tex watching, Sarge attempts to blow up Red Base for spacial reasons. Tex and Wash continue to butt heads.

Sitting on the edge of the tank, Tex had one leg pulled up underneath her, and one hanging off the edge of the tank. Leaning back, she watched as Sarge shot at the base and… Missed. By quite a bit. 

“Dang nabit! Who in Sam Hill set this thing to inverted?” Sarge grumbled, and she could hear him messing around with the controls. A part of her missed Sheila, and wondered how differently things might play out had the A.I. been inside the tank. 

“Well, statistically, sir, most users enjoy…” Simmons started to say, and Tex turned to him, raising an eyebrow as Sarge grumbled. 

“Statistically most users are fucking stupid.” She sneered. 

Looking flustered, he turned to her and muttered, “And I still don’t know what you’re doing here.” 

“I’m bored and there’s nothing better to do, would you rather I kick your asses?” Leaning back against the tank, she just continued to grin as Simmons got even more flustered. 

“What? I, no I was just--” 

“Hey!” Grif shouted as he walked out of Red Base, half out of armor. “What the fuck is going on out here!? Who’s firing at our base!?” 

Adjusting herself to get more comfortable, Tex just let them bicker back and forth. It was moments like these that she had enjoyed most in the memory unit. Not the pain and angst of going through the memories of the Project, of the Director and Leonard and Allison. Even the happiest of memories between those two couldn’t hold a candle compared to the antics of the Reds and Blues.

There was just something about them. The original Beta had felt it, that’s why she had kept coming back to them even when Church wasn’t there. It’s why she had felt an inherent need to protect them. They weren’t just stupid idiots being manipulated by a shady-ass Project. They were her idiots. And they were making her feel.. Better. 

After what had felt like an eternity trapped in isolation, not being able to interact with anyone, even the simplest, stupidest interactions felt amazing. 

Turning the tank towards Grif, Sarge suddenly shot at him. The blast missed him, hitting right in front of him. It wasn’t enough to do permanent damage, but it was more than enough to cause him to go flying back. 

“Oh, come on!” He shouted, and she wondered what he had done to earn that. 

“Direct hit, sir.”

“No…” Letting out an almost overdramatic sigh, she could practically hear Sarge shake his head. “No it wasn’t.” 

She opened her mouth to say something, but it died into a groan as she saw Wash approaching. “What are you doing!?” He shouted in that dickish tone of voice that Tex was getting a bit sick of. “And what the hell are you doing here?” 

“Well if it isn’t our good friend, Agent Washington.” Sarge said, swerving the tank to him. 

Crossing her arms, Tex pursed her lips before replying. “What does it look like?.” 

“Tex-- Just. Don’t.” He sighed, turning to Sarge. “Don’t try to butter me up, Sarge. And, please do not point that thing at me.” 

Grunting, Sarge swerved back around. “Fine.” 

“Good. Now again, what is going on here?” Wash asked, turning between Tex and Simmons. 

Glancing at the Red, she gave him a look. Simmons hastily answered, “We were just borrowing it for a bit for, er.”

“Construction work.” Sarge said. 

“Oh really? And which one of my men authorized this?” Turning, Wash stared at her. She just stared back at him, face completely neutral. Coming up behind him was Caboose, and she wasn’t in the mood to let him know. “It wasn’t the person sitting on the tank, was it? Or was it Caboose?” 

“Probably.” Caboose said, and Tex was disappointed when Wash didn’t jump. Caboose was quiet enough to scare even her sometimes. 

“To be fair to him, I was the one who actually authorized it. He just brought Sarge to us with the proposal.” 

“And it was a nice proposal too!” 

Sighing, Tex swore she could see the last bit of light left in Wash physically leave his body. “Right. Sarge, get out of the tank. You too, Tex.” 

“You’re not the fucking boss of me, Agent--” 

“Not a chance Blue! Possession is nine-tenths of the law. The other tenth is a tank. I’ve got both. Besides, we need it to--” 

“Tex, I am the leader of Blue Team. If you want to stay with us, you’re going to have to follow our rules. And Sarge? Your quarters are fine. Just. Get out.” Wash finally looked up at them, a hand over his helmet as he shook his head. 

“Yeah!” Grif added, from where he was sitting down after the blast. “Now get out of the tank you senile old--” 

Another blast hit right in front of him, sending it back. Like the previous one, it wasn’t enough to hurt him but it sent him back again. “Finger slipped.”

“Out. Now.” 

“My turn!” 

“Caboose? Please be quiet.” 

Lowering his voice, Caboose whispered, “My turn.” as Tex hopped off the tank, brushing off her armor. Sarge followed after her, ranting about Blue Team as Tex sauntered away to look down across at Blue Base. 

“Sarge, the Reds and Blues aren’t fighting. We’re just camped at opposite ends of the canyon… In color divided teams. While heavily armed.” She heard Wash try to explain. Snorting, she shook her head and sat down on the ground, cross legged. Up above, the sky was turning a darker blue. She wondered if anyone felt tired. 

Wash had it all wrong, how to approach them. He didn’t get it. The Director had set up the Reds and Blues to be fighting, in an effort to protect Alpha. They were simulation troopers hand-picked to fight one another. It was in their nature, especially Sarge’s. 

Besides, fighting in a fake war against each other was a good way to keep them in shape. Sitting around all day could be bad, especially if where they were was inhospitable. Or a planet belonging to the Covenant. 

“You won’t stand for anything, fatass.” Simmons snarked, and turning back, Tex watched as Grif walked up. 

“If only you were a few feet closer, you’d be sorry.” 

“If we don’t ration our food we’ll all be sorry. We’ve yet to get our communication dish online, and if we run out of food before we can radio for help we’re screwed.” Wash said, in a very important, annoyed tone. At what point had he become like this? Where had ‘Wash the Rookie’ died, and ‘Wash the Dick’ been born? Had Epsilon really fucked him up that much? 

He had a good point, though. Tex could keep on going without food, but everyone else… They needed food. They needed to get out of wherever they were, even if it meant leaving behind the slight vacation Tex was having. 

“Buzz kill.” Grif muttered, and Wash ignored him, turning to Tex instead. 

“Come on Caboose, Tex. We need to go have a chat with Private Tucker.” He said, hopping into the tank. 

Getting up from where she was sitting down, Tex fell in with Caboose as they walked back to Blue Base. 

 

As they drove up to Blue Base, Tex and Caboose walked behind the tank. Wash was silent the whole way back, and she could feel him brooding. Caboose kept up a running commentary the whole way back, telling Tex how much he missed her and how much he couldn’t wait for Church to see her when she got back. Caboose, apparently was the biggest fan of her and Church being together. 

When they got to the base, Wash stopped right in front, without turning off the tank.

“Oh shit.” Tex heard Tucker say, before she and Caboose stepped out from behind the tank. 

“We are back!” Caboose said excitedly. 

“Hey, Tucker.” Tex said, moving past the tank to head into the Base. 

“Caboose? Christ, I thought you were in that thing. Wait, who is in that thing?” Tucker asked, and Tex looked back as Wash turned the tank off and hopped out of it. 

“Hello, Private.” 

“Oh, shit.” Tucker groaned, and Tex snickered. 

“Tucker, what is the one thing I tell you each and every morning?”

“Wake up.”

“The other thing.”

“For the love of God, stop sleeping naked.” 

“Don’t let anyone touch the tank.” 

Watching the whole discussion go down, Tex’s eyes flickered between the two of them. It was fascinating, seeing the differences in interactions. Seeing the difference in Wash. She had known he had changed, he had to have after everything that had happened. But going from memory unit flashbacks of goofy rookie Wash to this was… Fascinating. Maybe one day she’d major in psychology just to analyze it. 

“To be fair to him, Wash.” She said, turning back fully now, and taking a step forward. “I was the one who let Sarge go with it. Not them, stop putting the blame on them.” 

Wash turned to look at her, and she wondered if he thought that the way he was acting would really work on her. “Until we’re rescued, we need to be more mindful of the supplies we have. Not all of us are A.I.”

“Yeah, yeah. Ration the food, maintain our equipment.” 

“Brush your teeth, don’t talk to strangers..” 

“And always report in to me.” Wash said, emphasizing the ‘always’. 

Tucker groaned and frowned, looking back at Tex for help. “Do we have to? I mean, Tex is a Freelancer and she’s been around the longest, shouldn’t she be in charge?” 

“You really want me to be your leader?” 

“Yeah, you’re all badass and shit.” 

“I don’t lead people though.” 

“Exactly.” Wash interrupted again, and the two turned their attention back to him. “Tex was never a leader back in her days during the Project, and after it fell she was a merc for hire. Which is why I put up that old Blue Team organizational chart to help demonstrate the point.” 

“That thing still exists?” Tex asked, sounding almost confused. “Didn’t you burn it to the ground after Church said he wanted to kill Junior?” 

“Apparently whiteboards don’t burn that well.” Tucker groaned, running a hand through his hair. “Listen, we never really actually paid attention to that. Church just kinda shouted orders and we’d around to them.. Sometimes. On good days. Or we wouldn’t, who cares?” 

“He was an inspiration to us all.”

“He was a lazy asshole put in charge of more lazy assholes.” Crossing her arms, she raised an eyebrow at them. 

“Yeah, well, Church and Carolina ran off without telling us where they’re going, and without so much as a goodbye. So I’m leader for now, and it is up to me to keep us all together.”

At the mention of Church and Carolina, Tex felt her hand go back to the sniper rifle she kept close to her. Hearing Church’s name still made her confused, not sure how to feel. She missed him, and Carolina but there were still so many lingering emotions.

“Anyways, just. Follow orders, and maybe we might get out of this alive.” Wash sighed, looking away. “You’re both dismissed. I’ll see you up and early at oh-six-hundred for some training.” 

Groaning, Tucker brushed past Tex to get in the base, muttering “Are you fucking kidding me?” while Caboose followed right behind him, bouncing excitedly. 

She watched them head inside, before turning back to Wash. “Out of everyone in the Project, I never expected to see you become a leader.” 

“Yeah, and I never expected to see you again. But I guess we all have to learn how to deal.” He turned to look at her, and she could feel the unhappiness radiating from him. 

“Honestly, Wash. I try to give you a compliment and you act like a dick. What the hell did I do to you to deserve this shit?” 

“Where do I start? Attacking the Reds and Blues, attacking the Meta and I--” 

“And you shot Donut and Lopez. Don’t act all innocent, Wash.” Sighing in frustration, she just threw her arms out at him. “I had my reasons, okay?” 

“Oh? Please, explain.” 

Pacing back and forth, she drummed her fingers along her armor, glaring at him. She was tired of this shit being used against her. “Do you know what it’s like to wake up with no memory of who you are, no knowledge, no nothing. Then suddenly, you get these memories.They hit you like a bomb, and your only instinct is to run, because last time you were where you are you were trying to escape?” 

“Can you imagine what it’s like not knowing what memories are yours and aren’t? Having memories that are so vague and fucked up you can’t even-- Can’t even tell who you are or what you are or why you are?” 

He watched her pace, letting her rant before responding, “Yes. I can. I still struggle with the memories of Epsilon, every night. You’re not the only one who struggles with memories, Tex.” 

She stopped mid pace, turning to him. She had forgotten about that. “Right.. Yeah, well.” How could she describe to him why she did what she did? It was so difficult. “My whole existence has always been for him, for them. The Director, Alpha, Epsilon.. They’ve never told me why, why I exist, who I am. The Director lied to me, manipulated me.” 

“At some point, you get tired of that shit. The constant coming back to life, not knowing who you are. Always looking in the mirror, seeing some other person's face. Asking yourself ‘Who am I? Am I Allison? Am I Texas? Am I both?’” Running both hands over her face, and through her hair, she let out an annoyed sound. 

“I should regret what I did, but I don’t. I really fuckin’ don’t. I had to find him, so that I could figure out this shit. And if I hurt people who were in my way, well. Don’t get in my way.” 

There was anger seeping up inside of her again, anger at everything. At being lied to, manipulated, strung along for reasons she didn’t know. At just. Life. “And now he’s fucking dead, like the coward he was. But I gotta figure it out still. ‘Cause God knows the Beta A.I. was too busy suckin’ Alpha’s dick to figure it out herself.” 

“Jesus Christ.” Wash said when she was finished, moving closer. “How long were you holding that in?” 

Staring up at the ceiling, she just sighed, her shoulders drooping. “I don’t even think that’s all of it.” 

“Well, I’m no therapist, but it sounds like you need Church.” 

“Ugh. That’s the other thing.” Looking back down at him, she frowned, sitting on the ground. “Church.. I don’t want to depend on Church to answer all of those questions?” 

“Why not? I thought you two were close?” 

Pursing her lips, she pulled her knees up to her chin. “I’m scared he might try to… Forget me again. Kill me. Like he did in the memory unit.” It was hard, admitting that there was things she was scared of. She was supposed to be the almighty Tex, scared of nothing. 

“I don’t think he has that power out here.” Sitting cross-legged in front of her, Wash set his weapon down and pulled off his helmet. “And, I don’t think anyone here would let him.” 

Giving him a soft smile, she sighed and sat up. “It’s not just that, I don’t want to depend on him anymore. If I’m gonna figure out who I am, what I am.. It’s gonna be on my own.” 

“That’s probably for the best.” 

Nodding, she looked at the ground. They sat in silence for a while, neither saying anything. Confessing everything to Wash felt nice, but she had to admit it was a bit strange not confessing to York or Church. 

“You asked earlier why I want to be here?” 

“I did.” 

“I care for these assholes. They may be idiots, and jerks and shit but..” Huffing, she looked up at him. “I care about them, and being around them makes me.. Happy. Makes me feel like what could have been in the Project.” 

“They are something alright…” He trailed off, looking almost proud at the thought of them. 

“You’ve done.. Good. With them. Never thought you’d ever be a leader, but. Here you are.  
”  
“Yeah? Thanks. It hasn’t been easy, but.. They need me. Especially with Church gone.” He frowned, fingers digging into the dirt. “They’re acting like they’re okay, but.. I’m not so sure.”

“They’ll be fine. And I’m sure that Church and Carolina will be back soon.” In an unusual gesture, she reached out and grasped Wash’s hand. “And I’ll help you, with the shit you need to save us.” 

“Thanks, Tex. I’m sure we’ll be fine, just each day that goes by...” 

“I know.” She murmured. "Oh, and Wash?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't you ever try to tell me what to do, again."


	5. Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra - Kiss the Sky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tex contemplates the monotonous life of being back with the Sim Troopers, Caboose is up to something, and Wash continues to ride Tucker's ass about every little thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took longer than expected, due to just a ton of RL stuff happening all at once. Hopefully once I get used to the flow of school, I can go back to a more semi-regular pattern of updating. Anyways, enjoy <3

A tiny radio salvaged from the remains of the ship blasted whatever music that had been in it when the ship had crashed. It was loud, blaring, and Tex had no idea what the fuck it was, but it sounded nice. Gave her something to listen to as she crawled underneath the tank they had found. 

It was a slightly updated version of the original model they had in Blood Gulch, and Tex was taking her time to make sure she understood it inside and out. Not just that, she also was going through it to make sure that it hadn’t sustained significant damage in the crash. Despite her finding it slightly funny that one of them could potentially be blown up by some error in the ship’s controls, she doubted they would. 

“Sixty-Seven! Sixty-Eight! Sixty-Nine….” Tucker’s voice could be heard over the sound of the radio, and Tex turned her attention to look over at him and Wash. They were standing not too far from where she was working, with Wash working on Tucker’s “training”. 

After her and Wash’s awkward talk, they had come to a compromise. Although they were both still awkward around each other, they were slightly more friendly, and had divvied up what they viewed as “Freelancer-only” jobs. Wash focused on the comms tower and keeping Tucker and Caboose in shape. Tex, meanwhile focused on recovering any salvage she could from the crashed ship, keeping the vehicles in top condition, and rationing and sorting out the weapons and ammo they had. 

Those jobs had kept her busy, at first. But now more than a week had passed, and she was getting bored of the monotonous life in the canyon. 

At first, being back with the Reds and Blues seemed like everything she had wanted. Being crashed on a seemingly abandoned planet, however, had its drawback. 

One of things Tex realized that had made her so interested in being with the Reds and Blues had been the constant action. Omega/O’Malley and Wyoming had kept things going all those years, had made it so that it wasn’t the same boring shit each and every day. That was why, when O’Malley and Wyoming were gone, the original Beta hadn’t stayed too long in the canyon either. 

That desire for action and adventure was making her get all sorts of prickly. She missed fighting, she missed action. She just missed anything that wasn’t the day in and day out of life with Simulation Troopers. 

And while being with them had perked her up a bit, it wasn’t enough. Tex had been made to fight and do shit. Not just sit around all day, listening to Tucker and Wash fight while Caboose moaned about Church and Red Team did whatever the fuck Red Team did. 

Moving to a different position underneath the tank, she wiped at her face. There was no sweat there, there never was. But it was a habit she couldn’t shake, and one that made her feel more human. 

“How’s it going, Tex?” Wash asked her as he approached her. From a distance, she could hear Tucker groaning and swearing. 

Resigning herself to the fact that she should probably wait until Wash had said whatever it was he wanted to say, Tex closed the panel to the circuitry of the tank and scooted out from underneath it. 

For the first time since crash landing, she was completely out of armor. Having dug around crew quarters, she had discovered a young woman’s cache of clothes that fit her almost perfectly. 

So she wiped off her long camo pants, paid no attention to the grass and mud clinging to her shirt, and looked at Wash. “Well, it looks pretty good so far. I was about to make sure none of the circuits were fucked up before you interrupted. Y’know, it really is a good thing nothing is wrong with it so far.” 

“And why is that?” He asked, frowning at her. She just grinned at him, hands on her hips. 

“‘Cause you and Sarge used it last week. And had there been something wrong with it, one or both of you would probably be dead.” 

“Oh… Right.” 

“Anyways, was there something you needed, or can I go back to making sure this thing won’t kill any of us?” Leaning against the tank, Tex crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow at him. Wash didn’t often talk to her without any particular reason, and usually those reasons were “Do this” or “Do that”. 

“I was just coming to check on Caboose, actually.” Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair. “He hasn’t been doing too well, if you haven’t noticed.” 

Shrugging, she looked away. Feelings weren’t her strong suit, and while she felt bad for Caboose, the constant hyperfixation on Church and Carolina wasn’t doing her any good. Especially at night. “Yeah, I noticed. Not much you can do about it though. Unless you want to explain to him why Church is a dick.” 

“I don’t think that’ll help much.” He sighed, looking down. She wondered how he felt, not knowing how to help Caboose. Did he feel like a failure? Hopeless? Should she try to comfort him? “Anyways, I just wanted to check up on you, I guess.” 

“Thanks. I guess. Can I get back to my tank shit now, or was there anything else you wanted to talk about?” 

“Nope.” Another sigh, then he glanced up at the entrance to Blue Base. “See you around, Tex.” 

Watching him leave, she raised an eyebrow at him. “Right..” Back to it. 

Making sure her hair was still in a tight bun, she laid on the rough ground. Planting both of her feet into the ground, she pushed and shimmied her way back into position underneath the tank. One small twist of a screwdriver later, and she was examining the circuits on the board.

Stupid fucking selfish Church. He always seemed to think about himself, and no one else. Never seemed to consider that his actions had consequences. Apparently it was a Church family thing. “‘Let’s be selfish and not think about how our actions have consequences,’” She thought. “That should be our fucking motto.” 

A part of her wondered if there was any use leaving the canyon, whether to try to find him or just find anyone she could, she wasn’t sure. But she knew she wanted to leave, and fast. The only things holding her back were a slight fear of the planet, and a strange obligation to the Sim Troopers to stick with them. 

Feeling frustrated by her own inability to leave, she swore, flinging the circuitry panel across the grass before finally getting around to checking the damn things. 

 

Standing in front of a table, Tex stared down at her weapons. Every day she liked to look at them, and decide what she would keep on her. Normally, she was more suited to pick up different weapons from the field and go in hand-to-hand, but this wasn’t a normal situation. She wasn’t sure what she’d have out there, and not knowing what she might or might not have put her on edge. 

Crossing her arms, she checked the three weapons off in her head. A simple combat knife she could use in close combat, a new rifle she had pilfered from the ship's armory and a small carbine pistol for similar situations. 

At the edge of her vision was Church’s sniper rifle. It had been given to her, but like it’s owner she still wasn’t sure how to feel about it. She knew how to use sniper rifles, but they weren’t really her thing. Hanging at the back of a fight didn’t suit her, and there were only so many weapons she could carry. 

Groaning, she picked the rifle up. Leaving the rest of her weapons on the table, she walked out of the makeshift armory, on her way to her room, when Caboose buzzed by her, muttering. 

“Whoa.” Taking a step back, she watched as he pushed his way into a room where Wash kept most of his equipment. Not sure how much she cared, she hung back for a moment, waiting. When Caboose came bustling back out, his arms full of things, she stuck her leg up. 

“Whatcha got there, Caboose?” 

“Oh! Agent Texas! Don’t ask questions, I must be going now.” 

Raising an eyebrow, she didn’t budge. “Yeah, no. Why do you have all that shit?” 

He paused, grinning at her. “Agent Washingtub wanted it?” 

“Right, Wash wanted… Whatever the fuck that shit is. Isn’t he still training Tucker?” She asked, sounding just a bit skeptical of his claims. 

“Yes! He did. Now, I must be going. Thank you, goodbye.” And with that, he plowed through her. Swearing, she bounced on one leg for a moment as the other recovered from the impact. Despite being a fucking idiot at times, Caboose was stronger than he acted. 

Still grumbling, she watched Caboose rush off. There was no point in stopping him, he was focused. Besides that, dealing with Tucker and Caboose was Wash’s job, not hers. 

Pushing the curtain to her room aside, Tex took a moment to adjust to the dim light. She had elected to take a tiny, windowless room lit by a few small lights. There wasn’t really much use to her having a room, she didn’t need sleep and she didn’t really have any personal belongings. 

Looking around the room, she let out a soft sigh. Setting the sniper rifle on the bed, she left for a brief moment, going across the hallway to grab nails. The only ones she could find were rusty, and different lengths, but they would work for what she wanted regardless. 

Hoping that outside of her armor she was just as strong as she was inside of it, her fingers tightly curled around one nails as she walked into her room. Finding a bare spot on the wall, her thumb pressed against the head of the nail as she drove it into the wall. Not too far, but just enough that she could hang something on it. She repeated the gesture with the other nails, until she had enough up that she could place the sniper rifle on it. 

It was stupid symbol, and she wasn’t quite sure yet what would come of it. Not a day went by where she didn’t think about Church, or wonder what would happen if they ever came face to face. But at least it was there. 

 

Later that evening, Tex was laying on the top platform of the tower, looking up at the ever darkening sky. Wash had decided that after dinner he was going to work on the tower, and Tex and Tucker had joined him, having nothing better to do. 

“I’m just saying, I feel like somebody should have found us by now.” Tucker said suddenly, interrupting the silence as Wash worked. He flung a can off of the tower, laying back with Tex. She glanced at him, noting the frustrated look on his face. 

Wash didn’t look up from his work, and let out a soft, “Hm?” in response to Tucker’s sudden outburst. 

“Y’know, if like a plane crashes and disappears, then that’s fine. It’s just civilians, whatever.” He said, hands behind his head. 

Tex stayed silent, listening, as he and Wash went back and forth, “I’m.. Not sure if I agree with you on that.” 

“This was a fucking spaceship. That’s like, national tragedy level important. Week-long news cycle. Every country looking for us.” 

“He’s got a point.” Tex said, rolling over to lean on her elbows. “It was a pretty big fuckin’ military ship.” 

Nodding at her, Tucker went on. “Exactly! And what about GPS? Galactic Positioning System? That should have been able to inform the UNSC Command of our location within seconds of a mayday.” 

Now Wash turned to him, and even Tex looked slightly surprised. Tucker had never been stationed on a large military ship, or worked with one. How the fuck had he known that? “How.. Do you know that?” Wash finally asked. 

“Yeah, since when did you know ship shit?” 

“Uh…” Tucker frowned, trailing off. His cheeks flushed, and he shook his head a bit violently, as if dismissing a rather embarrassing though. “I read it in a book?” 

“What book?” Tex asked, sounding and feeling disbelieving.

“I don’t believe you.” Wash turned back to the comm tower. “Then again, I don’t really care.” 

“Phew..” Tucker muttered, still looking rather awkward. Raising an eyebrow at him, Tex asked, 

“Hiding something there, Tucker?” 

“What? No, I--” 

“Hey.” Wash straightened up, turning to the two of them. “What happened to my soldering iron?” 

Looking up at him, Tex gave him a shrug of her shoulder as Tucker said he didn’t know. “I didn’t even know we had one.” 

“Damnit.” Running a hand through his hair, he took a deep breath. When he looked back at them, he looked frustrated. “This would be going so much faster if I didn’t have to keep tracking down my equipment every five minutes.” 

“What?” Glancing at Tex, Tucker gave her a confused look. “You think the Reds took it?” 

Grabbing his pistol, Wash cocked it, and in a mockery of Sarge’s voice, began to imitate him discussing plans to blow up Red team's own walls. Staring at each other, neither Tex nor Tucker responded to him. 

“Yes, I think they took it.” Turning to look at their base, he muttered. “If I go now, I might be able to still catch them before they go to bed..” 

“Dude, why are you so wound up all the time?” Tucker asked. 

Wash turned to him, his face grim in an almost overly dramatic way. Almost looking like how he used to, before Epsilon. “Because every second we’re here is another second closer to death. Or worse.” 

Raising an eyebrow up at him, Tex snickered. “As someone who has been through death, several times now, there’s nothing worse than it. Hell, it isn’t even that bad. Depends on who you ask.” 

“Not even gonna touch that one.” Shaking his head, Tucker looked up at Wash. “But c’mon Wash, what could possibly be worse than death? Aside from having to deal with Tex in the afterlife.” 

“I don’t know. I just thought it sounded dramatic.” 

“Come on, it’s not that bad.” 

“If we were back in Blood Gulch, they’d be doing the exact same shit. Only more ridiculous and idiotic.” Tex said, sitting up. 

“What she said.” 

“There’s just something about this place. I can’t help but feel like we’re being watched.” Tex opened her mouth to say something, but he cut her off, “And don’t start with me. I know you feel it too, Tex. I see you, constantly going over what weapons you’ll carry with you each day.” 

Snorting, Tucker rolled his eyes. “Oh, please. People get that feeling all the time. I had it for years. It’s nothing, right, Tex?” 

Opening her mouth to talk once more, she was cut off by Wash again. “But that’s because you were being watched! You were monitored by Project Freelancer for every second of every day!” 

“I agree with Wash.” She finally cut in, feeling annoyed at being constantly cut off. “There’s something off about this place, it just doesn’t feel right.” 

“Well, I don’t feel like I’m being watched now. Must just be you two.” Crossing his arms, Tucker leaned back against the metal platform. 

“Thanks, Tucker. I’m sure Tex and I feel so much more secure now.” Moving past him, Wash made his way to the ladder on the opposite end. 

“Hey, don’t be a dick.”

“Then don’t be an idiot.” 

“The fuck is your problem!?” 

Tex wanted to groan as the two went for each others necks, again. There was something about them that didn’t click, and at least once or twice a day they fought in front of her. Now she knew how other people felt around her and Church. 

“My problem…” Wash turned around to look back at them, “is that you’re absolutely right. Somebody should’ve found us by now. Now where the hell is that goddamn soldering iron?” Turning back to the ladder, he climbed down it, still complaining as he hit the ground, heading to Red Base. 

“Man.. What is his fucking deal? Was he always like this?” Tucker asked, looking at Tex, who shrugged. 

“Beats me. Probably not, but I never spent much time around him during the Project.” She said, laying back down. The stars were starting to shine again. It was the best part of being stranded on an unknown planet, the stars looked so much different, it was fascinating to watch them. “York used to talk to me about him, though. Guess Epsilon really fucked him up.” 

“Ugh.” Groaning, Tucker ran a hand over his face. 

Sighing, Tex made herself more comfortable on the metal platform. “He has a point, though. Something feels off about this place… And Church and Carolina should have been back now, but they aren’t…” 

“Please don’t turn into a massive bitch, Tex. I can handle Wash riding my ass, but you? Fuck that white noise.” 

“I won’t ride you ass, Tucker.” She rolled her eyes at him. “I’m just sayin’, I agree with him. This place creeps me the fuck out. And we should have been found by now. And Church and Carolina should be back…” 

“But they aren’t. So fuckin’ what? Who cares? Church left us, good riddance.” Tucker snapped at her, sounding annoyed. “So the place is creepy, so what? Tons of places we’ve been to have been creepy.” 

“I dunno, Tucker. To be honest, I kinda want to leave.” 

“Wait, what!?” He sat up, hanging over her, his face right in hers. Reflexively, she punched his shoulder to move him back. Groaning, he did so, and she sat up with him. “You can’t leave.” 

“Someone needs to figure out where we are, and where Church and Carolina are.” 

“Why do you want to find them, anyways, Tex? Who cares? Church didn’t care about you, he tried to kill you and then he left us.” Rubbing his shoulder, he looked up at her. “Just let him go, Tex.” 

“I’ll let go when you and Caboose let go.” She snapped back, “Besides, I’m getting sick of the monotony of this place. Every day, it’s the same damn thing and… I want some fuckin’ adventure, some action. Maybe, if I leave, I can figure out where we are and get us off of this rock.” 

Shaking his head, he glared at her. “Are you kidding me? We finally get you back, and you want to leave? What the fuck, Tex?” 

She stared back at him, surprised at his response to her desire to leave. Tex had thought he wouldn’t have cared. “Why do you care if I stay or go?” 

“Cause you’re my friend, dammit. And I need someone to complain about Wash to.” He added on, almost as an afterthought. “Listen, just.. Don’t go running off. If you’re gonna leave, come back.” 

There was a warm sensation in heart, coming purely from Tucker wanting her to stay. Giving him a bit of a smirk, she moved to nudge his shoulder with her own. “It’s okay, Tucker. Just admit it, you’ll miss me if I leave.” 

He groaned at her, pushing her away. “Shut the fuck up, and don’t tell anyone about this.” 

“Tell anyone what? That you care about me?” 

“Hey, you’re the one who’s still sticking around here even with Church gone. We all thought you’d go running right after him.” 

“What can I say?” She asked, a hint of warmth and kindness in her voice. “I’m a bit of a masochist.” 

“Yeah, yeah. C’mon, let’s get out of here before Wash comes back complaining about the Reds some more.” He stood up, holding a hand out for her. Taking it, she pushed herself up, looking out over the canyon. 

“If anyone tries to fuck with them,” She thought to herself, watching the lights from both bases, “They’ll have to get through me.”


	6. Trocadero - Vanessa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Getting more desperate, Wash and Tex try to fix the comms tower.

“I don’t know what the hell you expected, Wash. I’m a mechanic, not some.. Communications expert.” Feeling frustrated, Tex threw the soldering iron on the ground as she snapped. Having finished going over every piece of the tank and warthog she could, Wash had recruited her to help work on the communications tower. 

Instead of snapping back at her, Wash just sighed. “I was hoping you might be able to do something, or see something I might be doing wrong.” 

“Well, you were wrong. I don’t know jack shit, about jack shit.” Getting up, she stretched her arms and groaned. “What, did you think that ‘cause I’m an A.I. I’d automatically be good at this shit?” 

“Hoped is more like it.” He murmured, frowning as he pushed aside her to get to the small box. 

“I hate to break it to ya, Wash… But I can’t do any of that fancy-shmancy A.I. shit. Why the fuck do you think the Director paired me up with Omega?” Standing over him, she placed her hands on her hips and watched him. “I couldn’t run half of the shit he wanted me to on my own.” 

“There’s also the fact that he wanted you to think you were human.” He said, fiddling with the box. 

“Well, yeah. But still.” 

Rocking back on his heels, Wash looked up at her. It was strange to her still, almost scary even, how much he looked like a male version of Allison. One would think they were twins, separated at birth. They had the same thick blonde hair that was always a mess, those same piercing blue eyes that always had an edge to them, and God the freckles. She had never seen someone so tan that still had so many freckles. 

“So you’re telling me you can’t do anything that a regular A.I. could?” He asked her, lips turned into a frown. 

Shrugging, she self-consciously ran a hand through her hair, grateful that she didn’t look exactly like Allison had. “Nope. Never have been able to. I can run some basic armor enhancements, like my active camo. But outside of that? I need an A.I. Or, rather, another A.I.”

“Huh. Never knew that.”  
“I walk the line between human and A.I., Wash. Always have.” 

Wash turned back to the communication box, grabbing a screwdriver. He poked around, and Tex wondered if he actually knew what he was doing or if he was guessing. “That’s.. Interesting, but not all too surprising, I suppose. The Director did want you to replace Allison.” 

“Yeah. Can we not talk about that?” 

“Sorry. It’s still a difficult subject for me, too.” Wiping sweat from his face, he took a sip from the water canteen next to him. “Even after all these years.” 

“It’s fine. Whatever.” Crossing her arms, she looked up at the sky. “You have any idea what Caboose is up to?” 

“No-pe. Do you?” 

“If I did, would I be asking you the question?” 

There was a slight pause, and then, “Probably not.”

“Right after breakfast this morning he just fuckin’ ran out the door muttering about some new pet.” The realization dawn upon her, and her face and heart suddenly fell. “Oh God, you don’t think he actually found an animal, do you?” 

“Jesus Christ,” Wash muttered. “I hope not.” 

Tex opened her mouth to say something, when Tucker strolled up. “Hey, assholes. Have any of you two seen Caboose?”

“Hello, Private Tucker.” Setting aside his screwdriver, Wash glanced down at him. “We were just discussing Caboose.”

“Yeah, he’s in that cave that’s got all the shit in it.” She looked down with Wash, turning to stand at the edge of the platform. Living on the edge. “None of us know what’s going on with him, what about you?”

“Dude, I don’t fucking know. All I know is I haven’t seen him since this morning and I’m getting kinda worried.” 

“I’m sure he’s fine, Tucker. The cave is enclosed, nothing bad could possibly happen.” Tex said, although she still frowned a bit. The worst part of having no armor on meant it was harder to hide her facial expression, something she was still getting used to. 

“You can check up on him later, Tucker.” Wash said, getting up in order to stand next to Tex. “Right now, I need you to do me a favor.”

“No thank you.” He replied, emphasizing each word. “I got other shit to do, like--” 

“The ‘favor’ part was really a formality.” Wash added on, frowning. With a groan, Tucker ran a hand over his face. 

“Fine, fuck you. What do you want me to do?” 

“I need you to help me with the comms tower, down there. There should be a panel and I need you to open it and help me out, since someone,” He glanced at Tex as he walked back over to his workstation, “Gave up.” 

“Or she just got tired of your shit.” Tucker muttered under his breath, just loud enough for them to hear as he made his way underneath the platform. 

“What was that, Private?” 

“Nothing, sir.” Groaning again, Tucker just shook his head. 

Tex watched with a bit of amusement, before turning to Wash. “You really should go easier on them.” 

“Don’t you start on me, too, Tex.” 

“I’m not fuckin’ ‘starting’ on you, Wash. I’m just saying, Tucker, Caboose, the Reds.. They’re Sim troopers. They’re not used to the type of shit we’ve put through from our CO’s.” She made an exasperated sound, sitting on the hot metal platform, her legs hanging over the sides. “You keep pushing, they’ll keep resisting. Something’s gonna give, and it ain’t gonna be pretty.”

The noises of Tucker trying to do something to the box down below filled the silence in the air as Wash sat there, not really moving. “I’m not trying to do this out of malice, or spite. I’m just trying to make sure they’re prepared.” 

“Prepared?” She asked, sounding confused. “Wash, prepared for what? The Great War is over, the Director is dead, the only problem we have is that we’re crash landed.” 

“Exactly. And we have no idea where we are, or when help is coming. What if whoever finds us first isn’t friendly?” 

“Then I’ll fuck their shit up.” 

“I wish I had your optimism.” He said simply, as Tucker called out, backing up from underneath the tower,

“Okay, how about now?” 

Turning to it, Wash hit the radio. Silence. So he hit once more, and Tex waited with baited breath, wondering if they were finally going to get into contact with someone, if they’d finally be rescued. And then there was more silence. 

“Nothing.” 

“Hold on.” Tucker said, running back under the platform. Tex twisted her torso a bit, to try and look down to see what he was doing. “Alright, try it again.”

Wash hit the radio once more. “Still nothing.” 

Backing up, Tucker looked annoyed. “Balls.” 

“Are you even doing anything down there?” Tex asked, frowning at him. All she had seen was him run underneath really quickly, and she couldn’t be sure the panel was really open. 

“Hell yeah! I’m… Calibrating.” He said, sounding a bit awkward. 

“Calibrating.” Wash said in a dull, monotonous tone. 

“Yeah.” 

“Do you even know what that word means?” Tex asked, while Wash added,

“You haven’t done anything, have you?”

“Dude, I don’t know what I’m doing, or why you sent me down here.” He shook his head, turning around. Tex watched him, wondering where he was going to, as she noticed that Red Team was making their way over to them, with a new guy in the back of their group. She debated saying something, when Wash sighed.

Looking almost defeated as he looked down, she felt bad for him. “Right. I guess I should have expected that.” 

“Uh, hey. Wash? I think we have a bit of a situation here.” 

“What kind of--” Wash turned from the radio, spotted Red Team and his frown became even heavier. Eyebrows knitted together, he just made a sort of “Oh” noise. 

“Good to see you too.” Grif said in reply to him. 

“What do you want?” Wash asked flatly, while Tex waved at the Reds. 

Standing proudly, Sarge grinned up at all of them. “We figured it would be a good idea to come over and lend a hand.” 

“What? No. That’s a terrible idea. Do not touch anything.” Glancing at Tex, he muttered, “Do not let them touch anything.” 

“I don’t have a weapon.” She whispered back, loudly. 

“But we could provide tech support!” Simmons said, speaking for the first time.

“Have you tried using any D batteries? We found quite a few on the remains of the ship.” 

Wash shook his head. “Only Tex is supposed to go in there, you know. And no. Power isn’t our problem, these arrays are solar.” 

“Well, see, there’s your problem!” Sarge said in his normal, gruff-manner. “This baby needs to be converted to Diesel, on the pronto!” 

“Do we even have any Diesel?” Tex asked, leaning forward, her elbows resting on her thighs. 

“Nah, the warthog and tank run on that shitty corn gas.” Tucker said, looking up at her with a slight grin. 

Glaring at Tex and Tucker, Wash looked down at Sarge. “Solar is field standard for communication systems.” 

“Well ooh-la-la, Private Hippy!” Sarge’s voice got all dramatic, his eyes rolling back. “Hey, I got an idea; why don’t we just plant a garden in? Grow some organic sun-dried tomatoes, and open a farmer’s market! Then, on the first Saturday of the month, when the U.N.S.C. comes to buy some fresh sustainable produce, we just hop on board and ride the power of love!” 

After his rant, everyone paused for a moment, before Tex said, “Sun-dried tomatoes actually does sound good.” 

“Can you even fucking eat?” Grif asked, looking up at her, and she shrugged. 

“Don’t know. Haven’t tried it yet. Think I should?” 

“How the hell am I supposed to know?” 

Looking down at Tucker, Wash said, “Tucker, if they try to touch anything, prod them with your sword.” before going back to work on the comms tower. 

Laughing, Tucker pulled out his sword, “Now that is something I can get behind! Bow chika bow-- Wait, nononononono.” 

“Fine.” Crossing his arms, Sarge looked up at Wash as though he were above it all. “I guess you don’t want any help from our incredibly advanced robot companion!” He said, motioning for someone in a brown suit of armor to come forward. 

“Hola.” The robot said, looking up at them all. 

“Nope!” Wash said, not even bothering to look down at them. 

“Racist.” Grif shot back at him. 

“Hey,” Tex said, nodding her head at them. “Where’d you get the parts to build him?” She asked, curious in case anything ever happened to her and she needed to repair her own body.

Sarge glared up at her, frowning. “None of your business!” 

“Fuck you too, then.” 

Turning his attention away from Tex, Sarge looked back up at Wash. “Hey, tree-hugger! What if I told you it runs on recycled cooking grease? It’s perfect. Grif sweats the stuff.” 

“What else was I supposed to drink when we ran out of soda?” Grif asked, and Tex grimaced. 

“There’s always water.” Simmons commented, looking at Grif. 

“What are we, cavemen?” 

“Dude, that’s just gross.” Tucker shook his head as he sheathed his sword.

Sighing, Wash gave Tex an exasperated look. “I said no.” 

“¿Seguro que no quieres ayuda? Esto parece un trabajo relativamente simple. [Are you sure you don’t want help? This looks like a relatively easy fix.]” The robot spoke, sounding just like the old one at Blood Gulch used to. 

“Whoa!” Tucker exclaimed, turning to look at Simmons and Sarge. “Is that Lopez!?” 

Simmons’ lips pressed together, and he shook his head. “Not exactly. This one isn’t very smart.” He whispered, glancing at the new robot. 

“En serio chicos, estoy viendo el problema. Lo puedo arreglar justo ahora. [Seriously guys,I’m looking at the problem. I can fix it right now.]” The robot said, turning to look at the rest of them. 

“How can you tell?” 

“Oh, a mother knows.” 

“Bueno, si nadie me va a detener, voy a arregkar su torre de radio. [Okay, if no one is going to stop me, I’m going to fix your radio tower.]” And with that, the new Lopez stepped forward, walking underneath the metal platform to the tower. Tex was tempted to say something, but realized she was more curious to see how everything played out. 

“Why don’t you three go check on our food supply? It’s been a while since I’ve done a full inventory.” Wash said, still fiddling around with the damn box. 

“You can’t chose your bitch work on us! What do we look like?” Simmons said angrily, glaring up at Wash through his glasses. 

“Bitches.” Tex and Tucker said at the same time. 

“Tucker, I want a hundred squats. Tex? Don’t encourage him, please.” The last bit was added as an almost plea. 

Looking up at Wash in confusion, Tucker frowned. “What!? But leg day was yesterday!” 

“You’re a space marine, private. Every day is leg day.” 

Glancing at Tex, who just shook her head, Tucker groaned and began doing squats, holding both of his hands out. 

“This is bullshit.” He said, while Tex took count. One, two, three, four… 

“Ha!” Grif snorted at him. “Who’s the bitch now?”

“Last time I checked, your sister was my bitch.” Tucker shot back at him. Nine, ten, eleven, twelve.. 

“What did you say to me, bitch!?” 

“No one is a bitch. Now both of you, be quiet.” Wash snapped, pushing random buttons on the box. 

“Simmons is kind of a bitch.” Grif said after a brief pause. 

Turning to Grif, Tex watched as Simmons’ face turned as red as his hair.“Hey! What the fuck!?” 

“Ah, can it Private Bitch.”

“Yes, sir.” 

“Bitch.” Tex, Grif and Tucker said at the same time, grinning at one another. 

“I said, be quiet!” Sound frustrated, Wash punched the radio box. All of the sudden, it tuned up. Jumping to her feet, Tex stood over Wash. The radio was working. They could call for help. 

“Holy shit.” Grif said, sounding as surprised as Tex felt. 

“It’s working!” There was an edge to Wash’s voice, one she hadn’t heard in a long ass time. An excited, happy edge. “I-I don’t know what I did but it’s working!” 

Sounding breathless, Tex gave him genuine praise. “Good job, Wash.” As she spoke, the new Lopez came out from under the platform, and said, 

“¡Camaradas! ¡He repardo la torre de radio! ¿Estan satisfechos con mi trabajo? [Comrades! I have repaired the radio tower! Are you pleased with my performance?]” Although noe one was able to understand him, still. After all these years, Tex figured one of them would have learned spanish. 

“Lopez.” Sarge grumbled, confirmed that they did call him Lopez, and it wasn’t just Tex. “You’re ruining the moment.” 

“Mayday, mayday. This is Agent Washington, can anyone read me? Over.” Wash said, and Tex felt a shiver run down her spine, excitement spreading through her artificial veins and neurons. They were going to be rescued. They could be free. 

What about Church and Carolina?

She couldn’t help but think that. They were gone, they had no way of knowing that rescue would hopefully be on it’s way. Who was going to tell them? Would they be able to track them down on the planet? 

There was no response from the radio, and Wash’s face fell a bit. Tex frowned, moving closer to him, watching, waiting to see the feed pick up. 

“Maybe they’re screening our calls.” Grif commented, and Simmons replied, 

“What do you mean ‘they’? Who’s ‘they’?” 

“I dunno, people who know us?

“What?”

“Look,” He said, turning to Simmons. “I wouldn’t pick up the phone if any of you fuckers called me.” 

“Mayday, mayday. We are survivors of a shipwreck, and are in need of immediate rescue, please respond.” Wash said, his voice getting more and more desperate. Still, there was nothing. Tex’s hopes began to diminish, with each growing second that no one replied. 

“Don’t call them back right away, you gotta wait. Else you’ll look desperate.” Tucker called up to Wash. 

“But we are desperate!” Simmons said. 

“Everyone, shut up!” Wash yelled suddenly, turning to look down at all of them. They stared back up at him, eyes wide. 

“Whoa..” Grif muttered, and Tex frowned. 

“Wash--” She tried to say, wanting to try to calm him down, to reassure him. Anything to get him to stop being how he was currently. 

“Mayday, mayday! This is Agent Washington and the Red and Blue troopers of Project Freelancer! We are stranded, does anyone copy?” 

There was silence. 

“Mayday, this is Agent Washington. I am a soldier!” His voice raised in pitch, his face becoming more and more desperate. Tex stood back, watching him sadly. 

“Is anybody out there?” 

“Can anybody hear me!?”

Finally, the radio distorted, and a familiar voice spoke out in all the static, “Hello? Is someone there?” 

It was like the sun had come out from behind the clouds, with the way Wash’s face lit up. Everyone below them murmured, and Tex metaphorically felt her heart skip a beat. 

Someone had responded.

“Yes! Yes, we’re here! Do you read us?” Moving closer to the radio, Wash leaned down, eyes wide as he stared at the box. 

“Hel-looo?” The voice asked, cutting through the static. “Is this… prank call?” 

“No, no no no!This is real, please!” Grabbing the box, Wash looked into it as if it would tell him the secrets of the world. “You have to listen to me, my men and I are shipwrecked!”

“It’s an emergency!” Simmons said.

“Black Hawk down!” Grif added. 

“Code Red!” Sarge shouted. 

“What? Like a lightish red?” The voice asked, and suddenly it all fell into place. It was the bitch who had killed her with a grenade, the first time she had arrived in Blood Gulch. Donut. 

“What the fuck did he just say?” Tucker asked, slowly, after a long pause in which everyone else digested that. 

“‘Cause I mean, red is a pretty broad spectrum. There’s scarlet, vermilion, like a deep burgundy…” Donut went on, as Sarge climbed up the ladder to get to the platform. He pushed past Tex, who just kinda stood there. Of fucking course it would be Donut to pick up, and not someone from the actual U.N.S.C. That was just her luck. 

“Donut, is that you!?” Sarge demanded, bending down next to Wash, who looked confused. 

“Sarge?” Donut asked, his voice changing as he recognized them all. “Oh hey guys, what have you all been up to?” 

“We’re stranded in the middle of the jungle with dwindling food and limited supplies!” Sarge said to him. 

“That sucks.” 

“No shit, dickhead!” Grif shouted up, and Tex just blinked. 

“Donut, I need you to listen to me. You need to send help. Call command.” Sarge said. Wash continued to look confused. Tex just. Stood there.

She wondered if this counted as a failure. 

Church and the Director had always assumed that Tex didn’t know. Maybe parts of them hoped she would never find out, because finding out was so much worse than not knowing. 

But at some point, Tex began to realize that anything that mattered to her, anything she genuinely cared about always ended up in failure. Carolina. Alpha. York. If it was something, or someone she cared about, she was guaranteed to fail.   
Because that’s what Allison did. She failed. Failed to be a mother to Carolina, a wife to the Director. Failed to come home, like she promised she would. And now Tex was the physical embodiment of all of her failures, her broken promises. 

Now she had spread that to the people she cared about. 

“Okay, Donut, those are our last known coordinates. But be sure to let the rescue team know that we’ve got no clue where we actually landed.” Wash said, after moving past Tex. Or had he already moved past her? She had no idea. 

Blinking once more, slowly this time, she watched and listened. “Don’t worry guys, no matter how deep the bust, Private Donut always finds his man!” Donut said. Wash and Sarge glanced at each other, nervous looks on their faces. 

“Roger that, son.” Sarge said, and the static cut through. 

“What was that? You’re breaking up.” Donut said through it. 

“Just send help, as fast as you can.” Wash said, sound more hopeful than he had in days. 

“Okey dokey!” Donut said, and the radio lost it’s connection. Tex walked away, running a hand through her hair and just.. Leaving it there.

It had been so long since she had last remembered or thought about her constant failures. Her predestined nature to fail. It was so infuriating, how no matter what she always seemed to fail, even when it wasn’t really her fault. How fucking fair was that?

And now there were seeds of doubt within her. Sure, they had contacted someone, but it was Donut. Who knew what the fuck he would do? Would they even really be rescued? With her there, there was no guarantee. 

Now, for the first time, Tex understood part of why Carolina had left with Church. The stress of blaming herself, of finding herself guilty for every single failure was difficult to live with. Carolina had chosen not to blame herself, and had left. 

She wondered if she should leave too. Would it be better for everyone involved? 

Standing there, staring at the walls of the canyon with her hand in her hair, Tex didn’t notice the celebration going on around her. She was too focused, too confused and hurt. 

Letting her hand fall loosely to her side, she turned back to the group, trying to look neutral, as she didn’t want anyone worrying about her. As she walked over to stand next to Wash, Caboose ran up from out of nowhere.

“Hey everyone!” He shouted at the group gathered around the base of the tower. Wash turned to him, heading to the ladder. 

“Caboose! Where’ve you been?” He asked, sliding down the ladder to join everyone else. Tex followed him, but stood at the top of the ladder, looking down. 

“Yeah, I went on a walk like you and and now, everything is going to be good, forever!” He exclaimed, sounding happier than he had since Tex had arrived. 

Turning to look at the rest of the group, Sarge said, “Told ya’ so!” 

“Wait.” Wash stood in front of the group, the point. “Caboose, you were miserable. What happened?” 

Smacking his hand on his forehead, Caboose shook his head. “Oh, where are my manners? I haven’t even introduced him.” 

Looking a bit uneasy, Wash asked, “Introduced who, Caboose?” 

Tex looked up as Caboose called out for something called Freckles, whistling for it. Her eyes widened in horror as out from the cave, a giant robot began marching towards them, shaking the ground with each step. It felt like the scene from Jurassic Park, where they sat there in horror as the water trembled and the T-Rex slowly made it’s way onto the road. Except this robot felt bigger. And had guns. 

“Everyone!” Caboose shouted, grinning. “I would like you to meet Freckles! Freckles… Say hello.” 

The robot looked at them all, turning it’s sights onto Grif and Simmons. “Enemy soldiers detected.” It said in a monotonous, robotic voice. 

“No, those aren’t enemies, Freckles. Those are Grif and Simmons… Our enemy.” He looked pleased with himself, and Tex reached down to the pistol on her waist. Of fucking course Caboose had found a giant killer robot. 

“Firing main cannons.” It said, raising it’s guns up. 

“No! Bad Freckles! Down!” Caboose said, shaking his head. 

“Yes, Master.” Freckles, the robot said, putting it’s weapons down. 

“Bad Freckles…” Caboose muttered, treating it like a dog. Turning back to everyone else, he put his hands behind his back and rocked on his heels. “So, what have you guys been up to?” 

 

Later that night, Tex was curled up in her bunk. She didn’t sleep much, there wasn’t point. She didn’t really get “tired” as humans would think of it. But there were times when she needed to just lay down and relax. 

So underneath one small blanket, Tex laid there, naked. For the first time since coming into this new body, she had decided to spend the night with no clothes on. Take stock of what she had, what she looked like. See if anything had changed. 

Her body was the same as she had remembered it. Full, soft breasts that felt too perfect but were actually just uneven enough to feel realistic and life like. Hardened, tight muscles that accentuated her body, pulled taut as she tensed up. Soft, tan skin that wasn’t rough and weathered like Allison’s. 

Closing her eyes, Tex took a deep breath, pulling her knees up closer to her chest. The rough blankets on her exposed skin felt nice, the cool air from outside causing goosebumps to run up and down her legs and arms. 

Her mind was empty, numb. The events of the day had worn her out, and she was trying to decompress, when suddenly-- 

“This is Epsilon-Church, from Crash Site Alpha.” Church’s voice ran through Tex’s head, and she jolted up. “If you’re getting this, it’s an emergency. We’ve been shipwrecked on a planet called Chorus. Send help. Please, send help!” 

And then everything was silent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a difficult chapter to get through. It was a lot of dialogue that felt hard to insert Tex into, and I wasn't sure how to do it so I just plowed through. Hope it was okay. 
> 
> And as for the end, with Church. A lot of fans theorize that his message sent at the end of ep. 5 in RvB15 was a distress call from RvB11 distorted to sound like Alpha, so I decided to roll with it.


	7. Of Monsters And Men - Human

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tex tries something she's never done before, Wash and her have a talk, and Simmons joins Blue Team.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew. We're going into the parts of S11 I dislike more than others, which means chapter updates will either be super slow as I struggle to write or lightning fast as I try to get to the good parts of S11 as quick as possible.

“Go into the ship, they said.” Tex muttered to herself as she walked along the wrecked corridors of the Hand of Merope, standing over the slowly decaying bodies. It was a shame her body didn’t come with functions to turn off different senses. That was something she’d have to complain to Doctor Leonard Church in hell about, if she ever did finally die. “We can handle this, they said. We need you to keep looking for more weaponry, they said.” 

Stopping in the middle of the hall, she stared ahead at a jammed doorway. Power was off, meaning she’d have to force it open. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and rolled her shoulders. 

Of fuckin’ course Caboose would find a killer robot and bring it into the fray. As if tensions between everyone weren’t high enough, now they’d get only higher. And they’d be lucky if Donut ever showed up, too. 

Reaching the door, she gripped both sides of it tightly before forcing it open. It was a slow, meticulous task, even with her enhanced strength. The door grinded and screeched along the floor, sending up sparks. Finally it was open enough she could step through, albeit sideways. But she was too tired and too pissed off to care. 

Power hadn’t been cut through all of the ship, and the weapons bay Tex had entered still had dim, flickering bluish light. The crates filled with weapons and ammunition had all been jostled around, resulting in most of them being piled up to one end of the ship. 

Stepping forward, she looked at the crates, debating how she wanted to start putting them in order and sorting through them. It would be easier, if she knew what the ship had been carrying, but no one had been able to get a record of the ship's cargo, despite multiple attempts. At some point, Wash had given up, citing a need to work on the radio. 

As for Tex…

Theoretically, as an A.I. she was supposed to be able to do all the cool A.I. shit you heard on the news. Hacking into terminals, coming up with master plans, jumping into computers and accessing their coding then changing it. But Tex hadn’t been built for that. She had been built for two reasons. The first, was to fight and win. The second was to be a replacement for Allison Church. She was only good at one of those two things. 

And she had never tried to do any of the A.I. shit normal A.I. were supposed to do. Part of it was fear, fear of not knowing. She didn’t know what to do, or how to do it or if she even could. Another, larger part of it was sheer spite. No, she couldn’t hack into computers and she was proud of that. Theoretically. 

But with Epsilon gone, they needed someone to do all of that. And Tex was the only A.I. they had.

Glancing over at a terminal on the wall, she watched it flicker in and out. It wasn’t working properly, but it had electricity. She only hoped that would be enough. 

Crossing the short distance between her and it, she reached out and touched it. Her bare fingertips pressed in on the screen, distorting it slightly and she frowned. It was such a cliche moment and scene, standing there with her hands stretched out, touching the terminal. 

Pulling back, her eyebrows knotted together as she frowned. Then, without hesitating, she jumped. 

 

It was like being in the memory unit all over again. She stood alone, in a vast, empty world. Only this time it was blue, and flickering. Not black and solid. And she doubted she could jump in and out of memories in here. 

Looking down, she lifted her hands up about mid chest, staring at them. She looked different now, more digital. Her entire body illuminated a soft black light, as lines crossed her faded body. 

“Well.” She muttered, looking back up. “This is fucking weird.” 

Exhaling, Tex started to walk around the vast space, looking around her as she went. She wasn’t quite sure what to do, or how she was going to do anything, but she figured there must be a clue somewhere. Maybe it would be like muscle memory, where she just. Did it. 

Stopping suddenly, she turned in a circle, still looking, still waiting. But nothing appeared. Nothing happened. There was just… Nothing. 

“Hey, Tex? Are you in here?” Wash called out. Tex blinked, and suddenly she was back in her body. The sudden change was a bit disorientating, and she shook her head before moving to the doorway, peeking out. He was walking down the hall to her, dressed in full armor. 

“In here, Wash.” 

“Oh, good. There you are.” He picked up the pace as he saw her, and she stepped back as he squeezed in through the door. “I was looking for you for a while. What are you doing in here?” 

“More weapons.” She explained, looking back over at the crates. “So many goddamn weapons.” 

“Hmmm.” He said, hands on his hips as he rocked back on his heels. “Find anything else?” 

Shaking her head, she moved over to the pile to try and get a good estimate on how many there were. “Nah. Too busy trying to get to here. It had been closed off for a while, but I finally figured out the door code.” 

“There’s still locks? On the doors?”

“In some parts, yeah. The power levels fluctuate a lot, and it differs from part to part.” Kneeling down, she looked in through a tiny crack. There wasn’t much there, but what was there was heavily fortified in the crates. “What brings you here?” 

“Came to count our food stores. And check up on you. You seem… Quieter.” 

“I’m just debating in my head how long it’ll take Caboose’s giant killer robot--”

“Freckles.” 

“--to kill us.” Turning back to him, she raised an eyebrow. “Freckles? Is that what he’s calling it?” 

Wash just nodded. 

“Jesus fuckin’ Christ. We’re all gonna die on this planet.” Groaning, she ran a hand over her face then looked back at the crates. 

“Rescue is on it’s way…”

“Just, don’t get your hopes up, okay?” 

Wash moved to sit next to her, setting his gun to the side. “Why do you think they needed all these weapons?” 

“I dunno, Wash. I’m not part of the U.N.S.C.” 

“What, can’t make an educated guess now?” 

Sighing, she turned to glare at him. “Will you take your goddamn helmet off, if you’re going to patronize me? I want to see the look on your face when I bitch you out.” 

Snorting, Wash shook his head, but reached back and unclicked his helmet from the rest of his suit. Pulling it off, he set it to the side and glanced at her. Under his eyes were deep, dark circles. Tex wondered if she was capable of getting those, too. “Better?” 

“Better.” She grumbled, looking away from him. He looked too much like Allison. “I have no idea why the U.N.S.C. would need so many weapons. When the Project was taken apart, most of the Simulation Bases were shut down as well. That was before I was sucked into Epsilon’s unit, so maybe they were reinstated but…” 

“My best guess? They’re going to outer reach colonies. For protection. Against what? Hard to say. Probably the Covenant, that’d be my first guess. I heard that while the war has ended, there are still large pockets of Covvies attacking colonies.” Leaning forward, she placed her hands on her knees. “Second guess? More insurrectionists unhappy with the U.N.S.C. Show of force, that sort of thing.” 

She looked back over at him. “Why do you even care?” 

He shrugged, looking away. His face was neutral. “Just curious to see your take on it. I’d have guessed more or less the same thing.” 

“Huh.” She said, before getting up and stretching out. “Well, I should probably start sorting this shit…” 

“Caboose has a Mantis. Fully functioning, too.” 

“I know that.”   
“It could easily kill us.”

“Kill you. It take an E.M.P. to kill me. Or, y’know. Church could get mad at me and try to wipe me from existence. Again.” She did her best to not sound bitter at the last bit. “So what? Just don’t get on Caboose’s bad side.” 

“This isn’t a healthy way to cope.” 

Sighing, she turned to look down at him, and he stared back up at her. That neutral face had become harder, eyebrows furrowed together and lips pressed. “What do you want me to do, Wash? I’m not some god damn therapist.” 

“I figured you could talk to him, and maybe Tucker.” 

“Ah.” Shaking her head and rolling her eyes, she walked away. It all made sense now. “That’s what you’re after. What? You think me talking to them is going to help?” 

“Tex, I know you miss Church, like them…” 

“Wash, I don’t miss him.” Spinning on her feet, her eyes narrowed. “I mean, part of me does. But you know the rest of me feels? Fear. And… Pissed-offness. You know what it’s fuckin’ like, having the one person you trust betray you? And try to kill you?” 

“Yeah, I do. I’ve had that happen to me several times.” He said, staying calm despite her tone raising ever so slightly. “But listen, Caboose and Tucker are struggling without Church and..” 

Putting her hands up, she shook her head. “No. I know that, Wash. And I get it, too. But I’m not some damn therapist, and I’m the last person who should be talking to them about Church.” 

“It wouldn’t kill you all to just talk about--” 

“Wash, listen. I have come to respect you a helluva lot more than I did when we were in the Project together. You’re a good leader, I’ll admit it. You just want what’s best for everyone. But please, for the love of all that is Holy, listen to me.” 

“I know these guys, better than you. And yeah, maybe talking will work our shit out. But not me, okay? I’m the worst fuckin’ person to talk to about emotional shit, and when it comes to Church… Wash I can’t even figure out where my feelings towards him are right now. I can’t…” 

It was hurting her, internally, to talk about this. Not just because it sucked talking about Church, especially after she heard his voice in her head. But also because, after years of being the stone cold bitch… She didn’t like opening up to anyone. 

“You’re their fucking leader, Wash. You need to be the one to help them through this shit. Not me. Not right now.” With that, she sighed and looked down. “You go ahead and count the food stores, I’m gonna go take a walk. Around the canyon. Valley. Thing. Again.” 

“Right. I’ll be here.” He said, seemingly ignoring her outburst. “Let me know if something happens.” 

Already on her way out, she raised a hand in reply to him. “Will do.”

 

Hands out in front of her, Tex dropped down into squat position, before popping back up. Her hips pushed out as she did so, and she muttered “One hundred and sixty one” before dropping back down again. Besides her, Tucker was doing squats as well, although he was about sixty squats behind Tex. 

“Why do you even need to do this shit?” He grunted, holding his battle rifle out in front of him. “You’re an A.I. in an android body, do you need to work out?” 

“One hundred and sixty four.” She muttered again, before responding, “No. Just feels nice. Gives me something to do.” 

“Right.” He grumbled, as Caboose called out, 

“Tucker! Tucker, did you see that? Freckles did a squat!” 

Rolling his eyes, Tucker glanced over at Tex before calling back out, “Great. Now teach him to fetch, then throw a stick off a cliff.” 

“There aren’t any cliffs here, dumbass.” Tex snipped, before dropping down to do push-ups. Squats were getting boring. 

“Whatever.” 

“Oh, he knows how to fetch! Freckles! Freckles get the ball!” Tex looked up just in time to see Caboose throw a ball. Freckles followed it, then started to shoot at it. The tattered remains of the ball fell to the ground, and she just laid there. Staring at it. 

“Uhm. See. That. That was just. That was just poor phrasing on my part. Really, I mean I was just. I think I was just grammatically… It was grammatically incorrect. So..” 

Both Tex and Tucker sat there for a moment, staring at the remains of the ball, before Tex sighed and closed her eyes, groaning into the ground.

“We’re going to die, aren’t we?” Tucker groaned with her, sitting down. 

“Probably.” She muttered, looking up from the dirt. As she did, she watched as two flashes of red and orange disappeared behind a rock. Propping herself on her elbows, she stared, waiting, but neither of the two flashes came back out.

“Didja see that?” 

“See what?” Breathing heavily, Tucker laid down on top of her, groaning. “My life flash before my eyes?” 

Shoving him off, she rolled her eyes. “No, you dumbass. Did you see the two Red soldiers go behind that rock?” 

“Huh?” He asked, grunting after she pushed him off. “What? No. Did they really?”

“I’m like, ninety-nine percent sure they went back there.” 

“Should we do something about it?”

“Eh. Could get them both shot by Freckles.” 

“Yeah…” Tucker trailed off, then sighed and got up. “But it’ll be better if we find them, instead of Caboose and his killer robot.” They both looked over at Caboose, who was babbling to a squatting Freckles in earnest. 

Huffing, Tex pushed herself up off the ground. “I hate it when you’re right.” 

“Yeah, I know you like being lazy. C’mon, let’s go figure out what they’re up to.” 

 

“Hey.” Tucker said, as he and Tex approached Grif and Simmons. Tex, smirking, called out, 

“Boo.” 

Simmons screamed, falling over and pushing himself back up against the rock. The two blues exchanged a look, with Tex snorting while Grif just continued to kneel. 

“What are you two doing?” Tucker asked, crossing his arms.

“Alright! Listen, Tucker! I’m willing to hear you out, but my partner is crazy! I can’t hold him back!” Simmons said, scrambling to get up. 

“What the fuck?” Tex asked, as she and Tucker both glanced at one another again. 

“I mean, uh. Hey, what’s up? How’s the weather?” Simmons continued to babble, before grabbing his gun and cocking it. “Wait, no. I mean, tell me what you know!” 

There was a long pause, as Tucker and Tex just stared at both Simmons and Grif, not saying anything. He put the gun down, slightly, and sighed, “I’m sorry…”

“That’s some solid detective work there, Officer Simmons.” Grif finally said, shaking his head as he got up from where he had been kneeling. 

“Yeah, so if you guys could not watch us work out, that’d be great, ‘cause it’s a lil’ weird.” Tucker said, turning to Grif, while Tex kept her eyes on Simmons. 

“What the hell are you two idiots doing here?” 

“It is weird!” Grif said, while Simmons looked back at Tex. 

“Sarge ordered us to come spy on you. He thinks you’re up to something!” 

Once more, Tex and Tucker exchanged a long look. “If by something you mean not trying to get murdered by a killer robot, then yeah. You could say we’re up to something.” 

“Yeah, dude. The only thing I’ve done all day is exercise.” 

Grif shook his head, looking down solemnly. “You poor, tortured soul.” 

“What are you training for?” Simmons asked, to which Tucker responded rather abrasively, 

“Fuck if I know! Every day, it’s the same thing. Wake up, run drills, clean the base, run drills, maintain order, run drills.” Taking a deep breath, he looked up and shouted, “I have glamorous calves and a miserable fucking life! Can we please stop running drills!?” 

Tex frowned a bit at Tucker’s outburst. Wash really was pushing them too hard. 

Looking back at Grif and Simmons, she shrugged. “Wash thinks there’s some enemies on this planet, so we’re training for that.” 

“I had calves once… Way more tender than a regular cow. You can taste the youth.” Grif sighed sadly, while Simmons turned to Tucker and Tex. 

“Wash makes you clean the base?” 

“And our equipment, and our vehicles. The guy’s obsessed with rules and order!” Tucker said, groaning and looking to Tex for support. She just shrugged. 

“Ew, could you imagine having to deal with someone like that?” Grif tsked and shook his head.

“Rules and order…” Simmons murmured dreamily. 

“I know, right? He’s even got an ‘organizational chart’.” 

“Mmmmh…” 

“Pssh, what a loser.” 

Clearing his throat, Simmons looked at Tucker and Tex. “Yeah, hmm. Well that all sounds very interesting, Tucker. But I think I need to see this for myself.” 

“Wait, what?” Tex asked, with echoes from Grif and Tucker. 

“Oh, you know. I just want to make sure his story checks out. Inspect the base, stick around for a few days…” 

Shaking her head, Tex pinched the bridge of her nose. While Grif and Simmons bickered over it. “There’s not much to see, Simmons.” 

“I just think it would be more… Official if I were to check around, y’know. Have something to report back to Sarge with.” Simmons said, defending himself and Tex just groaned. He was really trying to go through with it. 

“Dude, are you sure you want to hang around?” Tucker asked, glancing between Simmons and Tex. ‘Wash might make you run his obstacle course or something.” 

“Yeah.” Simmons said, “Sarge made us do that too.” 

“Sometimes when I sneeze, buckshot comes out.” 

“Gross.” Tex made a face at him, as Simmons pleaded with Tucker, 

“Look, just let me hang out for a few days! I’ll be cool. I swear!” 

Tex and Tucker looked at one another, their faces both mirroring a weary look of bemusement. “Whatever dude,” Tucker finally said when Tex didn’t object. “Just remember, I warned you.” And with that, he turned to leave. 

Tex watched him go for a second, before looking back at Simmons. Crossing her arms, she raised an eyebrow. She hadn’t spent too much time with Red Team, but based off of her previous memories, Simmons could be a bit of an annoying bitch at times. “Guess I’ll have to clear a spot for you on the couch.” 

“Thanks, Tex.”

“Don’t mention it. And oh, hey Simmons?” She asked as she turned to leave, looking back at him. 

“Yes, Tex?” There was an edge of nervousness to his voice. Good. 

“Try not be as annoying as I remember you to be, so I don’t have to kick your ass.” Pulling her hair up into a ponytail, she turned, following Tucker as he sulked his way to Blue Base.


	8. The Heavy - Short Change Hero

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tensions raise to a boiling point in Blue Team, and rescue finally arrives. Why do I even put these summaries in? If you've seen S11 you should know what happens. It's just that Tex is also here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, we're officially halfway through S11! So close, yet so far. My goal is to get S11 wrapped up before school starts up for me in a month, so that writing for this fic gets a bit easier while I'm in school. Anyways, this chapter and the one before it have been a bit hard to write, but I hope y'all enjoy em.

“Uh, hey, Tex?” Simmons asked as he knocked on the makeshift door to her room before entering without waiting for an answer. Sitting on her bed, looking at a datapad she turned up to him, raising an eyebrow. “Where’s the bathroom in this place?” 

Blinking slowly, and trying not to feel pissed off over the fact that Simmons was still around, she jerked her head to the left. “What, did no one show you?” 

“No. I don’t even know where to put my things!” Turning his head, he muttered, “Some hospitality you all have.” 

“There’s a couch near the dining room.” Rolling her eyes, she swung her legs off the side of her bed and got up. “Where’s Tucker and Caboose?” 

“Outside, with that robot.” 

“Freckles.”

“Whatever. I’m going to go try to find a place to put my stuff.” He said, ducking out and heading down the hallway. What stuff he had, Tex wasn’t quite sure but she also wasn’t sure she cared enough to ask. 

Grabbing a pistol from a table and holstering it on her hip, she walked through the makeshift base back outside, hips swaying from side to side. Tucker and Caboose were right outside Blue Base, with Tucker sitting on the ground, helmet off and watching Caboose and Freckles. 

“Hey.” Tex said, sitting down beside him. “What the hell are you watching?”

He glanced up at her as she sat down, shrugging. “Dunno.” 

“I saw Simmon’s inside the base.”

“And?”

“You didn’t bother giving him a tour?”

“Who the fuck cares?” Tucker yawned, stretching out. “He’ll be gone in like, a day. Max.” 

“Right, well. You can deal with him, then, asshole.” She grumbled, looking away as Caboose messed with Freckles. 

“Okay Freckles, roll over!” Caboose called out, and Freckles the fuckin’ MANTIS twirled it’s upper robotic part at the command. 

“Objective complete.” It said, looking back down at Caboose. 

“That’s cheating.” Tucker complained, groaning and stretching out. 

Before Caboose could reply, Simmons came marching out of the base. “Hey, Tucker. Do you know when Wash will be back?” 

“Don’t know, don’t care.” 

“Well, I got two words for all of you that will change your lives: Chore. Wheel.”

Glancing over at Simmons, Tex raised an eyebrow. “I could kill him with my bare hands and he wouldn’t even make a sound…” 

“I hate my life.” Tucker groaned as he sat up, running a hand over his face. 

“Tucker!” Wash shouted from across the field as he walked up, throwing the bundles of MRE’s he was holding in his arms to the ground. 

“You know what, I take it back. I hate everyone else’s lives. Wish they didn’t have ‘em.” Tucker said, then paused for a second, looking thoughtful. “Oh my God, am I turning into Church?” 

“You’re not as big of an asshole as he is. Yet.” she said in response, standing up as Wash approached them. 

“Why aren’t you running drills?” he asked, looking between the two of them. Tex watched with a feeling of wariness, not sure if the confrontation would go well. 

“And how do you know I haven’t already finished them?” Tucker didn’t even bother to get up, he just rolled his eyes and looked away. 

“You’re not on the ground complaining about irritated nipples, I think I can make a good, educated guess.” 

The look on Tucker’s face, the sheer offense at Wash’s words was almost comical. “I’m telling you, my chest piece rubs up right against them. And not in a good, kinky way either.” 

“Why do you refuse to take these things seriously?” Wash demanded, shaking his head. 

“Wash--” Tex finally interjected. After days of high tensions, and Wash and Tucker bickering, she could tell more confrontations wouldn’t end well. And while part of her had wanted the shenanigans that being with the Sim Troopers could bring, this was different. 

“Why can’t you just let us do our thing?” Tucker said in response, finally getting up and stepping forward, in front of Tex. 

“I’m trying to make sure you’re the best.” Wash emphasized the last part, stepping forward as well. “That you’re ready for anything.” 

“Why? Blue Team, Red Team.. We were all fine with being mediocre ‘til you came along. The fuck are you worried about?” They were almost in each other’s faces now, although Wash had put his helmet back on. It was hard to tell how he was taking Tucker’s response to him. 

Even though she couldn’t see his face, she could tell by his body movement that Wash was getting exasperated. “It’s just a feeling… I can’t explain it.” 

“Really?” Scoffing, Tucker leaned back on the balls of feet, arms crossed. “‘Cause I bet I can. You’re a paranoid, ex-special ops guy who’s used to being betrayed on a weekly basis. Not much of a riddle Wash. Hey, next do you want to figure out the mystery of why Caboose isn’t the team treasurer?” 

Now it was Tex’s turn to look at Tucker, frowning. “Tucker, listen--” 

“Oh, so we’re going there.” Wash interrupted her and she let out an exhalation in frustration. 

“Oh-ho ho bitch I already went there, and I took pictures.” 

“Ooooo gurl.” Caboose finally inputted, and Tex groaned, taking a step back and pinching the bridge of her nose. They were all being idiots, complete and total fucking idiots. 

“Well, I can’t say I’m surprised Lavernius.” Wash practically sneered, and Tex could just hear the bitterness in his voice. Hell, she could taste it. “You just always have to get the last laugh, mister quick witted, mister sarcastic. If you spent as much time training as you do mouthing off, you could probably beat Freckles at arm wrestling.” 

As Tucker began to say something, Tex finally pushed her way in between them, making sure they both got a shove backwards. “Enough, Jesus fuckin’ Christ. You two both need to take a chill pill, and shut the hell up.” 

Tucker took a step back, looking offended at Tex. “He started it.” 

“I don’t care who fucking started it, you’re both being stupid. Caboose is starting to sound like the only damn smart person on our team, and he’s playing with a god damn MANTIS.” She snapped, looking between both of them. “God damn, no fucking wonder Church hated his life when he was leading you assholes.” 

Glancing over at Wash, she could practically see his nostrils flaring under his helmet. But before he could snap back at her, or tell her to get back in line he was distracted by something behind her. Turning around, she groaned as Simmon’s walked out of Blue Base.

“Hey guys, I heard some shouting so I thought to come out and-- Oh, hey Wash. I didn’t know you were back.” 

“I think I need a fuckin’ advil.” she muttered, easing up a bit as Wash glanced at both her and Tucker. 

“What is.. Why is he here?” 

“Tex showed me around and--” 

“No I didn’t.”

“--I took the liberty of claiming the bunk closest to you. I hope you don’t mind.” 

“I don’t have the time to deal with you right now, go away.” Wash’s tone was dismissive, and when he was finished he looked back at Tex. “Tex, listen--” 

“Heh, heh… Good one, Sir. Oh uh, hey by the way is it okay if I call you sir?” Simmons asked, joining the group in front of the base, grinning nervously. 

Looking at Tucker, Wash sighed. “Why is he still here?” 

“Beats me. If I was him, I’d be as far away from this base as possible.” 

“He seems to think he’s joining our team.” Tex said, giving Wash a big ol’ smile. “‘Cause of you, and what a fantastic leader you are.” 

“You can call me Champ if you want. Or, you know… Son.” Laughing even more nervously, Simmons rubbed the back of his neck. 

“Just ignore him.” Tucker shook his head, rolling his eyes. 

“Or Sir Junior.” 

“Anyways, ignoring someone’s outburst, we don’t need you protecting us.” Tucker said, arms crossed. 

“I know, and that’s why I’m trying to help you.” 

Laughing, Tucker threw his arms up in the air and shook his head. “Help us with what, defending against attack? No one is going to attack us, we’re completely alone!” 

At that moment, the sound of a Warthog engine revved as it burst over a hill, with Sarge hanging out the side screaming, “Attack!” 

The Warthog hit a boulder, and Tucker groaned. “Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me.” 

“Damnit, Grif, you forgot our theme music.” 

“Oh, right.” Grif said, hitting a button and briefly loud cantina music blared through it’s speakers. Blue Team just watched them, staring as arge turned back to Grif. 

“Ah, forget it. Moment’s passed.”

Freckles got up slowly, creaking. “Enemy soldiers detected.” 

Caboose moved up closer to Tex, twiddling with his fingers. “Uh, good Freckles. No… Murdering everyone.” 

As Grif and Sarge got out with their weapons raised up, Tex grabbed the pistol on her hip and held it up, pointing it at Sarge’s legs. Wash grabbed his own pistol, aiming it straight at them while Tucker and Caboose slowly followed suit. 

“Uh. I would just like to take this opportunity to point out that this, this was not my idea. Whatsoever. At all.” Grif said, looking between them all.

 

The group stood, pointing their weapons at one another, no one saying anything. It was all quiet, and Tex took a deep breath. Tucker finally broke the silence, sighing. 

“You have literally the worst timing.” 

“Stow it, thin mint.” Sarge grumbled, turning his gun to Tucker. “We’re no longer fraternizing with the enemy.” 

“‘Thin mint?” Tucker asked, looking at Tex in disbelief. She just shrugged at him. 

“Now see, when he says ‘we’ imagine he’s only referring to himself. Do not group us together.” Grif said, lowering his rifle a bit. 

“Bitch!” Tucker shouted out at Sarge, “My armor’s aqua! I think.” 

“What the hell are you two doing?” Wash asked, taking a slow step forward. 

“Yeah, did you two forget the part where you were all manipulated by some asshole into thinking you were in a war, but aren’t? That the whole ‘Red vs Blue’ shift is all fake?” Tex asked, lowering her pistol just a hair. 

Sighing, Grif shook his head. “Uh, again. Not ‘two’ just him. I can’t stress this enough.” Looking at Tex pointedly, he nodded his head at her. “Especially at you.” 

“Relax, Grif. I promise only to kick your nuts in, oh.. Let’s say five times this time.” she sneered back, and he groaned. 

“Enough!” Sarge took a full step forward, sounding fanatic. “You made me believe that Reds and Blues can coexist, and we can work together as one people, and that we can all get together and be a little… Purple.” He spat the last part out, shaking his head. 

Tex and Tucker glanced at one another, giving each other bemused glances. 

“We can!” Wash insisted, lowering his gun. “We are! Seriously, what the hell is this all about?” 

“You kidnapped one of my men!” Sarge shouted, pointing at Simmons. All of Blue Team glanced back to look at him, as he raised a finger to point to himself. 

“Who? Me?” He asked, sounding confused. 

Rolling his eyes, Tucker looked back at Sarge. “He wasn’t kidnapped, dipshit. He came over here by himself. We can’t fuckin’ get him to leave, right Tex?” 

“Yeah, it’s kinda annoying.” 

Sarge looked at Simmons, and Tex wondered how heartbroken his face looked. “Is this true, Simmons?” 

“It’s… It’s not your fault, sir. It’s Grif’s.” 

“What did I do?” 

“You’re fucking disgusting, Grif.” 

“Well, yeah. No shit. But I’ve always been like that.” Pointing to Sarge, Grif stared Simmons down. “Sarge was the one who decided to take half of the base for himself.” 

Inching closer to Tucker, Tex murmured, “Couples fights, am I right?” And he just snorted. 

“Oh. Then I guess it is your fault, sir.” Simmons looked back over at Sarge, who pointed his shotgun right at Simmons. 

“Then that makes you a traitor!” 

“What!?” 

Freckles stepped forward, shaking the ground around all of them. “Threat level increased.” 

“Uh. Yeah. No reason for panic. Everything is.. Fine. Might anyone have a rolled up newspaper at the ready?” Caboose asked, looking around. 

“You weren’t kidnapped!” Sarge shouted, stepping closer. Tex and Wash immediately put their pistols back up, frowning at him. “You deliberately joined the enemy!” 

“But if he wasn’t kidnapped, that would mean we were never the enemy in the first place!” 

“Don’t try to confuse me with your words, Shamrock!” Sarge shouted at Tucker. Wash looked over at Tex, and she frowned, not sure what to do or how to ease the tensions. 

“I’m aqua!” 

“Tucker, calm down.” Wash’s commanding tone took over, and he lowered his weapon to turn to him. 

“Me?!” Tucker asked, turning to face him. “These guys roll up in a fucking assault jeep and you choose to yell at me!?” 

“Look,” Wash tried to say, “Tensions are high--” 

“No fucking shit, Washington. I’m tired of you bossing us around.” 

“Now is not the time.” 

“Tucker, Wash.” Tex muttered, finally lowering her pistol to turn back to them. She was looking away from the Reds, but to focus on the two in case she needed to jump in the middle again. 

“You know what? I disagree. And Tex?” He looked over Wash’s shoulder at her. “You stay out of this. You’re not the one being affected by Wash’s shit.” 

“Excuse me?” She asked, “Tucker, what the fuck?” 

But Tucker ignored her, putting his attention back on Wash, shoving a finger at his chest. “We were having a talk when Tweedledee and Tweedle-fucking-idiot decided to interrupt, so let’s finish this.” 

“There is nothing to finish!” Wash said, the character squeak he got in his voice when he was put under stress coming back. 

Out of the corner of her eye, Tex noticed Grif step way back and mutter, “Are we intruding on some sort of lover's’ quarrel right now?” He asked, and she was tempted to make a quip about him and Simmons before Tucker blew up again, 

“You are the worst thing to happen to this team since blue-boy over there decided to show up!” He shouted, the finger pushing on Wash’s chest again. 

“I am a man! Blue man!” 

Moving forward, Tex watched them carefully. She had tried to intervene, and all it had done was make Tucker pissed off at her. But he and Wash’s fighting was giving her a damn headache and she needed it to stop. Soon. 

“I am a man! Blue man!” Caboose shouted, and Tex wasn’t sure he knew what was going on. 

Gasping, Simmons looked offended for Wash. “You take that back. Wash is a great leader!” He stated, then added, “I assume.” 

“Blasphemy!” Sarge shouted. 

“Deadly force authorized.” Freckles said suddenly, and Tex looked up at him in shock. Her focus was no longer on Tucker and Wash, but rather Caboose and his killer pet. 

“Caboose, you need to get Freckles under control.” She tried to say as Tucked said, loudly, 

“Seriously? I would rather follow Caboose into battle than you.” 

Turning back to Tucker, Tex opened her mouth but Wash cut her off, 

“Oh, really? Then let’s just make him the leader, see how much better off you are!” 

“Can you two just fuckin’ stop for one god damn--” 

“Well, I humbly accept your nomination and accept the position.” Caboose said, and feeling like she was being torn in two, Tex looked back at him, fear pooling in her pit. What the hell had they just done?

“Caboose--” She started, 

“Shut up!” Wash and Tucker shouted back at him. 

“Do not talk back to your commanding officer.” Freckles said, confirming what Tex had feared. 

“Wash and I are having an argument. I will be talking back to him. That’s how arguments work, you fucking toaster.” Tucker said, looking up at Freckles with a face full of contempt. 

“Tucker, listen that’s not what he--” she tried to say, but like always she was interrupted.

“Washington is not the commanding officer.” 

Both Tucker and Wash turned around, staring at Caboose, Freckles and Tex. “What?” They both asked, sounding and looking confused. 

“In a unanimous decision by the Blue Team, Caboose has been promoted to Blue Leader. Captain Caboose is now your commanding officer. Do not talk back to your commanding officer.” Freckles looked down at all of them, and Tex sighed. 

“Good job, idiots.” she muttered. 

“Oh, fuck.” Grif said. 

“Well, yep. This is gonna be a lot of fun.” Caboose said, grinning at all of them. 

“No, Caboose, you can’t--” Wash tried to say, but Freckles turned to him, guns at the ready. “Look, Freckles this is a misunderstanding!” 

“Caboose is team leader?” Simmons shook his head, turning to leave. “Fuck this.” 

“Ugh! Don’t worry, Simmons!” Shaking his head, Caboose rocked back and forth on his heels. “As my first duty as leader in the position of the nomination, I say you can be on Blue Team… Forever!” 

Tex groaned again, looking down to pinch the bridge of her nose. 

“Nope. No thank, I’m good.” Simmons held his hands up, walking back to Sarge and Grif. 

“Private Simmons.” 

Simmons stopped as Freckles addressed him. “Oh, no.” 

“Deserting your post will designate you as AWOL. This designation is punishable by death.” 

“What!?” Simmons screamed, looking back and forth between Tex and Caboose, as if the former could somehow help him. All Tex could do was just sit back and watch. 

“Uh, hey Sarge? Now the Blues have kidnapped Simmons.” Grif said, glancing at Sarge. 

“Then this means WAR!” Sarge screamed, jumping up on the turret of the Warthog. “Say hello to robot Satan, you mechanical son of a--” Sarge began to start the turret, as Freckles looked at him. 

There were few times in her life where Tex gave up. Both had involved the Meta, as both times meant certain death or excruciating pain had she not given up. Now was another one of those times, as she looked up and watched Freckles’ missile launchers glow with heat, preparing to fire one. 

There was nothing she could do, not without destroying her body. 

Grif threw himself out of the way right in time, as Freckles shot a missile right at Sarge in the Warthog. By some small miracle, Sarge was thrown back from the initial blast, but the Warthog was utterly destroyed. 

“Whoa!” Tucker shouted, and Simmons took a step forward in Sarge’s direction. 

“Sarge!”

“Freckles!” Caboose said, reprimanding the machine. “Bad! Bad! No!” 

“Primary threat eliminated.” 

Looking away, she watched as the new Lopez came running out of nowhere. “¿Cuál fue esa explosión—MIERDA. ¿QUÉ HAS HECHO?[What was the explos—HOLY SHIT. WHAT DID YOU DO?]”

“Sarge! Sarge are you okay?” Simmons asked from where he was, too frozen in fear of Freckles to move. 

Resting a hand on his side, Sarge grabbed his shotgun. “No, Simmons. I’m afraid I won’t be okay… Until I exact my revenge!” Getting up, he glared at Freckles. 

“Seriously. I am not affiliated with this lunatic. He does not speak for me.” Grif said, raising his hands up as he, too stared in Freckles in fear. 

Crying out, Sarge began to rush at Freckles. “Sarge, don’t be a fucking idiot--” Tex called out, 

“Engaging target.” Freckles said, the metal glowing again. 

“Freckles, no!” Caboose shouted. 

“Sarge, don’t!” Wash yelled. 

Suddenly, a single shot pierced the air. No one screamed or grunted in pain, so it hadn’t hit anyone. They all turned, slowly, staring at the source. A man in pink armor walked into the field. 

“Man, you guys really are noisy!” 

There was a long, slow pause before suddenly everyone rushed forward, cheering. Tex stayed behind with Caboose and Freckles, frowning. If he was here, where was his ship? 

“Aww! You must have really missed me!” 

“Donut!” Grif cried, hugging him and Tex could hear the tears in his voice. “Thank God you’re here!”

“We were just about ready to kill each other!” Sarge said, gruffly patting the younger mans back. 

“Speak for yourself.” Tucker shot at him, but even he looked happy. 

“Where’s the ship?” Wash asked, pushing forward to grab Donut by his shoulders. 

“What ship?” Donut asked, tilting his head to the side. Tex’s heart sank. 

“The ship you came here on.” Wash’s voice was falling with Tex’s heart. “The rescue team.” 

“Ooohh.” Smacking his visor, Donut shook his head. “Ha, duh! Allow me to introduce, the rescue team!” He turned to his right, pointing back at Doc who stood behind him and waved. 

“‘Sup.” 

“... Doc?” Simmons asked, and crossing her arms, Tex walked forward to join the group. Anger and frustration was boiling through her. Of fucking course. Of fucking course. Donut would show up with no ship, and fucking Doc. 

“Wait. What is this?” Wash asked, looking between the pink and purple men. 

“Donut told me you guys needed help.” Doc explained, shrugging. 

“So I got the best help money could buy!” Donut said cheerfully. Too cheerfully. Tex wanted to kill him. 

“You didn’t pay me.” 

“And I didn’t tip the pilot! That’s formality!”

“What pilot?” Sarge asked, as the mood began to change. Everyone was beginning to realize what Tex already had. 

“The pilot that dropped us off, dummy.” 

“... ‘Dropped you off’?” Tucker asked.

“As in, he’s not here anymore?” Grif added. 

“Exactly!” Donut nodded, pointing at Grif.

At that moment, Caboose ran over to join all of them, looking at all of their faces. “‘Sup?” 

“So…” Wash said slowly, accentuating each word. “You’re telling me… That you heard our distress signal… Grabbed Doc… Hopped on a ship.. And then told the ship to leave!? And that’s your idea of sending help!?” The squeak in his voice came back as his tone raised, anger piercing through. 

“What?” Donut asked, sounding as if Wash had just said something preposterous. “No! I brought Lopez, too.”

From her side, Tex could hear the original Lopez say, “Qué. Carajo.[What. The fuck.]” 

The whole team turned back to Donut. “Kill him!” Sarge suddenly shouted, and everyone began to converge on Donut, grabbing him by the back of his chest piece and dragging him behind a rock. They all began yelling and screaming, Tex following and watching. 

“Someone get this maniac turquoise guy away from me!” she heard Donut squeal as Tucker punched his gut, swearing. 

“I’m aqua!” He shouted with one final swing before someone else took his place, punching indiscriminately. 

Tex watched, grinning just a bit. It felt nice, in a sadistic way, seeing all of their anger vented out into fucking Donut who had just stranded them even further on the goddamn mystery planet. Hell, if it weren’t for the fact that she didn’t think she could get in past them she would have joined in. It had been too long since she had lost fought someone. 

As she was about to give advice on punching, the back of her neck tingled. Something felt wrong. Off. Turning around, her eyes scanned the canyon. Valley. Thing. 

Nothing, no one was there. The breeze blew, the leaves on the trees rustled. Donut squealed as someone threw him to the side. But something was there. Something felt off. 

There was a ripple, on the canyon wall. It was just a second, maybe even half a second, but it was there. 

Someone, or something had been watching them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Important update: Due to school and the work load on me, I have been unable to put the time and effort this fic deserves. I promise that once my semester ends (12/14) I will do my best to put out as much Quality content for this fic before my next semester begins (1/8). Thank you all so much for supporting this fic <3


	9. Metric - Artificial Nocturne

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Caboose calls a meeting with blue team.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A quick chapter to get back into the hang of writing this series. Sorry if it isn't the best. Sorry for being gone for so long, hopefully I can get back into the swing of things!

Tex was sitting at Blue Base, legs crossed, with some sort of rifle out in front of her. It was alien in design and nature, but she had never seen technology from the Covenant like this before. Covenant weapons were usually only slightly more advanced than human weapons, and had more variation to them. But the weapons she had seen inside the ship were… Different. 

They weren’t as unique or diverse, with most of them having the same kind of ammunition. And they all seemed to be designed similarly, with warm orange glows and an inherent ability to separate the pieces and recombine. 

If they technology was Covenant, then humans were fucking screwed. 

She leaned forward to examine the rifle more, gloved fingers carefully taking apart the separate pieces. She was an artist, and this was her craft. Weapons. Vehicles. Ammunition. Warfare. Tex was one of the few people she knew who could expertly deconstruct then reconstruct exotic weapons in mere minutes. And come away with a healthy knowledge of what the weapons were, and where they came from. Spending your time in isolation with nothing but weapons at your fingertips did that to a person. 

“This is it. This is rock bottom.” Tucker asked, breaking into Tex’s focused silence. 

Rolling her eyes, she tried to ignore him, her fingers delicately attempting to pry the scope away from the rest of the gun. “”You ever hit rock bottom, Wash? Well, you have now. ‘Cause this is it. Can’t get any lower.”

Simmons sniffled, and Tex looked up. Wash, Tucker and Simmons had all entered from the side, and were now standing in a row. Waiting patiently. Wash stared straight ahead, silent. Barely moving. Were it not for the fact that his chest piece rose and fell, he might have been dead. 

“I wanna go home.” Simmons whined briefly. Straightening her back, she turned her attention to Tucker. 

“What are you three assholes doing here?” 

“Awaiting orders from Captain Caboose, now that Donut’s been… Rescued by Doc.” Tucker said. 

Captain Caboose. In all of her years dealing with the Simulation Troopers and their bullshit, this stunt had to take the cake. Captain fucking Caboose. It was like Church’s worst nightmare, only Tex was the one living it out. She could just hear his whining and bitching in her head, and for once Tex found herself not missing him. 

“Great.” She muttered, as speak of the devil, Freckles approached them. 

“Attention. Officer on deck.” He announced as Caboose walked in, and Tex slowly got up, crossing her arms. 

“Yes. Yes. Hell, thank you.” He said, smiling and nodding and waving at the four of them. “Yes, hello. Thank you, you’re welcome, yes thank you.” He turned to face the four of them, clearing out his throat. 

“Captain, all team members are now accounted for.” Freckles said, and Caboose gave him a smile. 

“Well, excellent news, Assistant Captain Freckles!” 

“Oh my lord.” Tucker groaned, and Tex just simply stared ahead. This was Wash and Tucker’s bed, and they were going to lay in it. 

Clearing his throat, Caboose turned to the rest of them. His helmet was off, so they could see his shaggy, curly hair falling out around his face. He needed a haircut, bad. They all did, but Caboose’s hair was wild. Tex had vivid memories of how it used to be back in Blood Gulch, how quickly it grew. Church sometimes swore Caboose used magic to make it grow just to piss him off. 

“Hi. Hello. It looks like we have a new member today. Yes, everyone give Simmons a big Blue Team hello.” Caboose beamed over at Simmons, and everyone but Wash turned to look at him. The scrawny fuck looked like he was squirming under his armor, not looking directly at their fearless leader. “Yes, yes. Welcome to Blue Team, Simmons!” 

Tucker and Tex shared one glance, before slowly clapping. Each clap resonated in the empty metal room, bouncing off the walls. Simmons groaned a bit, whining even more, 

“Can I leave?” 

As if he didn’t hear him, and perhaps Caboose didn’t, the new leader of Blue Team turned and paced some more. “It is very good to have you on board today for the Blue Team.” As if it were all some game again. 

Freckles moved ever so slightly, and Tex turned her attention back to the big, hulking metal robot. “Sir. Awaiting mission briefing.” 

“Ah. Yes! Right!” Caboose hit his head with his palm. He was so horribly under suited for this position, and Tex wondered who he was basing his acting off of. It wasn’t Church. Maybe Wash? She had been gone for so long, she didn’t who had been in charge. 

“Oh God, right. Yes. Um. Okay. Yes. Um.” Taking a deep breath, he turned about and stared at all of them, wide eyed. “Yes. First order of business is, um.” He looked at everyone in turn, wild eyes going to each of their faces, hoping someone would speak up. 

“It’s to. Um.” His lips pursed, and he frowned as no one stepped forward. 

Finally, he settled on Wash. “Um, uh… Wash…” Despite being across the room from the soldier, he began to whisper in a very staged tone, “Pssssssssssssttt… Wash. Washington. Washingtub. Wash, Wash. Washington. Wash. Wash. Washington.” 

Tex wanted to groan and bury her head in her hands. No, that wasn’t it. She wanted to yell and scream, “Shut the fuck up already you fucking moron.” Or something to that effect. But she only had one body, and she had no intention of letting a murderous death robot destroy it. 

Wash stared ahead, ignoring Caboose until everyone was looking at him. Finally, the man's shoulders slumped a bit as he sighed. “Yes, Caboose?” 

“Uh. Yes, um….” Inching his way closer to Wash, the blue leader looked a bit nervous. “What is the first order of business?” 

Glancing at everyone else, as if almost to beg for help, Wash replied, “We’re trying to get rescued.” 

Stopping in his tracks, Caboose’s face turned bright immediately as he grinned and threw his head back. “Oh, yes! Ah, right. Rescued. Excellent. Yes.” Letting out a breath, he turned and looked at everyone again. “Does anyone have any, suggestions?” 

Tucker, Wash and Tex turned and looked at one another. The look on both of their faces was of utter defeat. “The communication tower works.” Tex finally said, looking at Caboose. “So maybe we should, I don’t fuckin’ know, start there?” 

“Ooh. Perfect, good idea Agent Texas!” 

“But, the signal of the transmitter isn’t that great. We need to work on trying to boost it, so that if we are able to make contact we can maintain some sort of steady line of communication.” Wash interjected, before Caboose got too carried away. 

“If we can contact someone again.” Tucker said, emphasis on the “if”. 

“Yes, right. Uh. Well, then we need to do that! Tucker, go fix the radio thing!” Caboose said, nodding along. 

“Wait.” Tex and Tucker said at the same time, with Tex taking a step forward. 

“I don’t know how to do any of that, why not let Tex or Wash do it? They were the ones who built it!” Tucker protested, and Caboose looked a bit nervous at the interjection. 

“Tucker, because. Look, okay. Listen. Wash and Tex are both needed for other, more important jobs.” 

“But, Caboose--” 

“What jobs?” 

As the two former freelancers started to protest, Freckles turned to both of them. Wash growled, stepping back and Tex shut her mouth, watching the robots’ two rockets. 

“Yes. Yeah. Well, I was thinking that you know, Washington and Tex are mean and scary. So, Wash will be our lookout and Tex will… Help him. By patrolling!” He grinned at the two of them, as if his plan were absolutely brilliant. 

“... Patrolling?” Tex asked. 

“Look out?” Wash groaned. 

“Yes. Washington, make sure you look out for bad guys! And Tex, you kill the bad guys! And, anything that looks scary. Or monstrous.” 

“There’s a giant robot trying to kill me.” Wash said, looking up at Freckles, to which Tex snickered. 

“Yeah, why can’t Freckles be our lookout. Killing shit is like, his entire reason for existing.” Tucker said, glancing at the two freelancers. 

“Weeeeeee-llllllllllll.” Caboose drew the word out. “Um, you see. Every great leader needs a great best friend, and Freckles,” He turned to the robot now, who looked down at him. “I think YOU could be that best friend!”

The robot paused. “... Acknowledged.” 

Having stayed silent for so long, Simmons finally perked up, asking in a whimpery voice, “Um, do I need to do anything?” 

Caboose jumped up, and grabbed his gun. “Oh my GOD a RED! Oh MY-- Oh. Oh no. Oh no, sorry. It’s my bad.” He relaxed a bit, shaking his head. “Sorry, Sorry. Yeah, Simmons we got. We have to talk about it. Yes, uh.. Simmons… Simmons…” Frowning he turned to pace again. “You do what ah… What you would normally do for the Reds, for the Blues. Instead. Now.” He looked back at Simmons, who nodded. 

“Uh, yes sir.” 

Holding a hand up, Tucker glanced at Simmons. “What is your job for the Reds, exactly?” 

“What do you mean, I just did it.” Simmons replied. 

“He means he’s a kiss ass.” Tex snarked, grinning at Tucker. 

“Okay!” Caboose interrupted them as Tucker opened his mouth to speak. “And Team! Meeting adjourned! Alright! See you, bye!” And with that, he turned to walk outside, with Freckles following him.

As soon as he left, Wash turned on Tucker. “I hope you’re happy.” 

“Hey, don’t pin this shit on me!” Tucker complained, shaking his head. “You’re the one who--” 

“Shut up. Both of you. Now.” Tex turned on the two of them. “You both fucked up, and you both are to blame for this shit.” Both of the men opened their mouths to complain, and she held a hand up. “Now, I don’t give a fuck how you fix it… Just do it, before you get us all killed over your petty.. Stupid.. Macho-fucking issues.” 

“‘Macho-issues’?” Tucker asked, frowning at her. 

“Whatever. Masculinity, whatever stupid bullshit you guys go through. Work through your fucking shit.” 

“Oh, as if you’re one to talk, Tex.” Wash said, glowering at her from underneath his helmet. “Don’t think I haven’t forgotten you and Carolina’s ‘issues’.” 

Now it was Tex’s turn to glare right back. That hadn’t been her fault. “Don’t fuck with me, Wash. You both want this shit to stop? To stop feeling like a MANTIS is going to blow you off this fuckin’ planet? Then do us all a favor, and fucking talk about your goddamn feelings before you get us all killed.” 

Before the two of them could speak, Tex went back to where she had been and grabbed a pistol from the floor. “Now, if you excuse me, I’m going to go shoot some rocks and tell Caboose they looked at me funny. Pussies.”

And with that, she left.


	10. Metric - Gimme Sympathy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tex is bombarded with heart to heart's, as Blue Team struggles under Captain Caboose.

“Having fun wasting our ammo?” Wash asked as he approached Tex. She was on the far edge of the canyon, shooting randomly at rocks. 

Not looking at him, she replaced the clip in her pistol, pointing right in the middle of two layers of rock and began shooting. “Do you know what all that tech on the ship is?” 

“What tech?” He asked, moving to stand next to her, watching her shoot the layers. “And you didn’t answer my question.” 

“Bite me, Wash. And don’t bullshit me, you’ve been on that damn thing more than me. I’m talking about the rifles that shoot beams of light energy, the damn pistols…” Another clip was shoved into the pistol, and she began firing rapidly. 

“Not sure.” He replied, sighing and sitting on the ground as comfortably as he could in full armor. 

“Bullshit. Again.” Chips of rock fell onto the ground, creating a small pile of rubble. “You were all on that UNSC ship, you didn’t know what was on it?” 

“It was a transport ship taking us to a new training base. We didn’t ask questions.” 

“Ugh.” Feeling bored of shooting the rocks, she threw the pistol onto the ground and turned to him. “So, when are you gonna un-fuck us over? Or are you taking a break from being fucked over right now?” 

He looked up at her and frowned. “This isn’t all my fault, Tex.” 

“Yeah, well, you wanna be a leader. So lead. Fix this shit.” 

“I don’t even get why you’re complaining, it’s not like Freckles is hurting you. You’re not the one who has to deal with this.”

“You already had one heart to heart talk with me, you don’t get two.” She snapped, turning back to the cliff. 

“That’s fine with me. Just answer me one thing, why don’t you just leave? You seem bored and frustrated. You have no interest in going after Church and Carolina, and you just keep getting pissed off with everyone. So why stay?” He asked, and she groaned. 

“I said no more heart to heart’s, Wash.” Glancing back at him, she rolled her eyes. 

“What? Don’t want to get too chummy?” 

“No, I just don’t like dealing with my emotions in what most people would call a ‘healthy’ manner.”

“Sounds like you need a therapist.”

“Ha-ha.” Flopping onto the ground next to him, she stretched out and sighed. “Y’know, when I woke up I had no memories of any of you assholes. I barely knew who I was.” 

“Yeah?”

“Mm-hm.” It had been a frightening time. Waking up in a strange facility she only half-remembered, surrounded by people she didn’t know. All of her instincts had said to run, to escape and to fight anyone who got in her way. “Some stuff I got from reading the Directors’ logs, but most of memories came from Epsilon’s unit. I just jumped in and out of different memories, for so long…” 

“I’m not the same Tex you knew back at Freelancer. I think she probably would have looked at the Project much differently. But I’m Epsilon-Tex. My memories are based off of his memories. And he hated the Project. His only good memories… Were of the Simulation Troopers.” 

“Huh.” Was all Wash said as he sat up, looking at her. “So, your memories of the Project are…” 

“Some aren’t too fucked up, the memories that are mostly the Beta-Tex’s are alright. But most of her… semi-positive memories are from the tail end of the Project. Everything else is all Epsilon. And it’s all fucked up.”

“So, you stay here… Because you actually care about the Reds and Blues?” 

“Ew. No.” She snorted, glancing at him. “I stay, ‘cause I hope that I can get.. Positive memories and shit.” 

Laughing, Wash shook his head. “Well, look at you. Opening up. I’m proud of you, Tex.”

“Ugh, shut up.” Pulling her knees forward, she stared forward at the layers of rock. “Tell anyone, and I will murder you in your sleep.” 

“Good luck beating Freckles to that.” 

“I don’t need luck. I’m just that good.” She smirked at him as he got up and stretched out. 

“Well, it was nice talking to you. But I think I need to continue my perimeter walk.” He looked out over the canyon. “Let me know if any of the rocks look at you funny, and I’ll get you more of those weapons from the ship to shoot at them.”

Rolling her eyes, she laid back into the warm grass. “Have fun being a guard dog, Wash.” 

“Oh, I will.” He muttered, walking along the canyon edge over towards the Reds’ camp. 

 

She was dreaming. Or daydreaming. Or dozing off. Whatever A.I. did in their downtime. 

Freckles was in Blood Gulch, fighting Gamma. They were both droning on and on as they fought in robotic tones, while Tucker and Wash danced around them. 

Then there was the prickling sensation on the back of her neck. Like they were being watched. Like someone had been watching them the whole time, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. When they were at their most divided, then--

“Tex.” Someone smacked her head with their boot. Feeling a jolt of fear and adrenaline, she jumped up and grabbed her pistol, pointing it right at… Tucker. 

Almost immediately she dropped it, groaning and laying back down. “What do you want, Tucker?” 

“Sorry, did I catch you in the middle of your beauty rest~?” He teased, snickering as the toe of his boot touched her head again. 

Running a hand over her face, she sat up. “Do that again, and I’ll break that damn foot.” She looked up at him. The sun was setting, and it was getting in her eyes. Tucker was standing over her, half in armor and half out. “And A.I. don’t dream, dumbass. We just kinda…” 

“Zone out?” 

“Yeah. Sure. What do you want, anyways?” 

“Simmons is being an idiot and making some random crap in Blue Base, and I can’t fix the communications tower. I need help.” He looked back over at Blue Base, frowning. “And if Freckles notices that I’m gone for too long, he’ll try to shoot me or some shit. So just help me.” 

“Sorry, you’re shit outta luck there. I was only ever taught to be proficient in weapons and vehicles.” Her eyes followed his back over to Blue Base. “Where’s Wash?” 

“I dunno. He made up some shit excuse then ran over to the ship. Hey, do you really blame me for all the shit that’s going on?” He asked, nudging her again. 

Groaning, she got up, pulling her hair back again. “No, I blame you both. Because you were both being stupid assholes. Now, listen. I can’t help you with the comms tower, but I guess I’ll go over there and pretend to help. Only because shooting rocks got boring, and I don’t want to fall asle--doze off again, in the open. Got it?”

“Ugh, what’s the point of all this shit? Neither of us know how to do anything, we might as well just both shoot rocks. We’re gonna be trapped here forever.” He kicked at the rock pile she had built up in frustration. 

“Tucker, I have already had to deal with Wash trying to get a heart to heart from me. I don’t need one from you, either.” She said simply, brushing off her pants before she started to head to the tower.

“Wait, you’ve been having heart to heart’s with Wash? But not me? Gotta say, that seriously hurts, Tex.” He scrambled to follow her, staying one step behind her. “What, you don’t care about me and what I have to say?” 

“Yeah, pretty much.” 

“That hurts, Tex.” 

“Not as much as my knee against your balls, will.” 

“Why are you so grouchy?” 

Looking back at him, she raised an eyebrow. “I’m always like this, Tucker. In case you haven’t noticed. I’m a bit of a bitch.” 

“I guess I was just expecting some sympathy, from you. Y’know.” 

There was a very long, drawn out groan from Tex before she turned and stopped Tucker in his tracks. “What do you want from me, Tucker? Just spit it out already.” 

He paused, frowning before rubbing the back of his neck. “How come you haven’t gone after Church, yet?” 

Not again. “This isn’t really something I want to talk about, Tucker. And I don’t think you want the answer.” 

“I do, though. I mean. Church abandoned us, Tex. Well, not you ‘cuz he didn’t know you were here but he just. Up and left. Gone. After everything we had been through, all cause of him. For him. He just. Left. No goodbye. Nothing.” Tucker looked down, before meeting Tex’s stare. She could tell from the look on his face this was something he had wanted to talk to her about for a while. 

Sighing and deflating a little, she looked away. “He hurt me, too, Tucker. He tried to kill me, and damn near succeeded. That, coupled with Carolina and I’s troubled past, I… I’m not sure I want to go after them.”

“Wash and I have already talked about it a bit. I.. He wouldn’t be able to do that shit again, not outside of the memory unit, I don’t think. But..” She hated this, she hated discussing her emotions. Why was everyone bombarding her with them? Why did they care? “But he still did something to me without asking me first what I wanted, and I don’t know how to feel about him.” 

“You and Carolina have a troubled past?” He asked, raising an eyebrow and seemingly ignoring everything she just said. “What, were you two ex-girlfriends? Did she dump you for some other brooding, bitchy chick?” 

Feeling her face heat up from the absolute disgust, she snapped, “Hell no, it wasn’t like that. We were--, I was--, she and I--...”

“Listen. The Project was really fucked up for a lot of reasons, and lets just say that I did some things to Carolina that I… Regret.” Shaking her head, and the disgusting images away, she turned away from Tucker. 

“So.. You two were rivals?” 

“Kinda. In a way. I suppose. I dunno, it’s all a blur now.” She said, trying to get out of the conversation. “Point is, she doesn’t like me. Reunion would be awkward. I’d rather just stay here.” 

“Guess I have something to look forward to if they ever come back, then. Chick fights. Girl on girl action.” Tucker said, and Tex could practically hear the “Bow Chicka Bow Wow” in his voice.

Putting a stop to that train of thought before it got anywhere further, she turned around and glared. “Say anything more and I swear to god I will kick your balls in so far your great-great grandchildren's children will feel it.” 

Raising his hands in defensive, he took a step back. “Okay, okay. Yeesh.” 

“C’mon. Let’s just go fix this stupid fucking tower.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ayo. I'm consistently updating this dang fic. Anyways, some of the chapters are probably going to be a bit shorter than usual as I have a lot of motivation to write, I'm just very tired at the end of the day a lot. So expect more updates, but shorter ones!
> 
> Also, I've been struggling hardcore w/ my decisions to put so many heart to heart's/emotional discussions here, and I feel like explaining it in case anyone questions it: One of my biggest issues w/ RvB despite my love for it is the lack of emotional discussions. That's part of RvB's whole schtick, is that no one deals w/ anything in a healthy manner and it's a comedy so really deep talks only happen once or twice or MAYBE three times a season but it's something I want to explore as I go in between the events of the episodes, and add more to them. So if you're reading this for the first time, or re-reading it and going "God, Ange. Tex just had this talk with Wash like three chapters ago! We get it! Tex doesn't know how to feel about Church! Stop putting these dang emotional scenes everywhere!" just deal with it, yo.


	11. Imagine Dragons - Friction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After increasing feelings of paranoia, Tex takes a risk and discovers that the planet they're stuck on is more complicated than she thought...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bet you all thought i was dead, didn't you? 
> 
> I wasn't. I have an impacted wisdom tooth, which makes it hard to focus and I can't get it removed until July at the earliest. After a random spout of creativity, I decided to push myself to start writing again, through the pain!

It was now day two of Caboose’s leadership, and Blue Team was degrading much faster than expected. Once more Tex spent her early morning sitting down on the floor, going over her weapons. Taking them apart to make sure that each one had no problems or malfunctions, then putting them together. 

Except for the alien weapons she had found. Those she stayed away from. Not worth the risk. 

As she put together her pistol, Tucker came stumbling out, groaning. “Please tell me that the events of yesterday were just a dream, and that Caboose is not our leader.” 

“Do you want the truth, or do you want me to lie to you?” she asked in reply, glancing up at him. 

“Ugh.” Grabbing a pack of MRE’s, he tore it open with his teeth and sat across from her. “What the fuck is this?” 

“This is my morning meditation.” Setting the pistol back down, she adjusted her shotgun so that everything was symmetrical. “Some people have yoga, some podcasts, some running… I check and double check my weapons.” 

“Isn’t that kind of… Psychotic?” 

“It keeps me from killing you in your sleep. Which would you prefer?” 

Groaning, he stretched out as he dug into the dried foods. “What are the chances Caboose makes me go fix the tower again?” 

“About as much as the chances are that he’ll have Wash and I go out on patrol.” Tex looked back down at her weapons with a sigh. 

“Ew.” He said, as Wash jogged into the base, frowning a bit at the two of them. 

“Glad to see your up, Tucker. We need to talk about the Communication’s Tower before--” 

Holding up a hand, Tucker cut him off. “I don’t want to hear how I’m fucking up, Wash. I already know I’m doing that. I want to talk to my friend.” 

Even Tex had to wince at that. Shooting Wash an almost sympathetic look, she turned to Tucker and frowned at him as Wash stomped off into the upper parts of the base. “Who the fuck shit in your shoes this morning?” 

“Don’t you start on me, too. He’s an asshole, and I don’t want to hear it.” 

“And he could probably tell you how to fix the tower, if you only listened.” Rolling her eyes, she leaned back on her palms and frowned at him. “You know this is partially your fault, too, right?” 

“What?” He asked, spitting food out at her. 

“You heard me. Had you two not been bickering like a pair of fucked up ex boyfriends, we wouldn't be in this mess. Deal with it.” 

“I can’t believe you’re on his side.” He glowered at her, shaking his head. 

“I’m not on anyone's side, asshole. I’m just as fed up as this shit as you are. But taking it out on him? Fuck that shit. No wonder Church had daily aneurysms dealing with you and Caboose, all you want to do is just take your shit out on the closest authority figure.” 

Getting up, Tex grabbed the edges of the canvas she laid she weapons out on and, dangerously, grabbed them all. “Why don’t you just work out what issues you have, and apologize? Maybe we’d all be less fucked if you did that.” 

Not looking at her, Tucker just flipped her off as she made her way back into her tiny bunk. 

 

“Where are you going?” Wash asked as she left the base, decked out in full armor and weaponry. 

Not pausing, Tex kept her eyes on the other side of the canyon, where climbing would be easiest, “I want to scout out the canyon from above. Something feels…” Finally, she stopped and turned to Wash. “Off.” 

He stopped with her, and frowned as he looked at the cliff. “I’m glad I’m not the only one. What do you think you’ll see up there?” 

“The other day I saw.. A flash. Something quick, I don’t know what it was. But I’m hoping that being up there will give me a better look at the canyon walls, and then I can… Figure out what the fuck it was.” She sighed, looking back at the cliff. “I’d rather it be me that goes up there. You’re all made of flesh, and bones that are easily breakable. If I fall, well. It’ll hurt but it won’t kill me.” 

“I’d rather you not go alone.” 

“I’ll be fine, Wash. I’ve faced worse before.”

Sighing, he nodded and ran a hand over his unkempt beard. “I just don’t like the idea of us being separated so much, with everything going on.” 

“Who would have thought you and I would ever be partners, especially after everything that’s happened.” She said, smiling a bit at him. 

“Did I ever apologize for trying to stab you, and all that?” He asked, turning to grin at her. 

“I brought half a mountain of ice on you, and then almost let you fall into an icy sea. I think we’re pretty damn even.” Crossing her arms, she rocked back on her heels. 

“Heh. I almost forgot about that.” Glancing back up at the cliff, he sighed. “Radio me if you find anything, I’ll try to get away from whatever Caboose wants me to do to help.”

Giving him a half-assed salute, she grinned as she walked away. “See ya later, Wash.”

 

The climb up was not easy, and there were a few times where Tex nearly slipped and fell. But each time she held on tight, robotic fingers digging into the crumbling stone. It was slow work, but she made good time. By noon, she had nearly reached the top. Another ten minutes, and she was pulling herself over the edge.

At the top of the cliff, Tex flopped down and took a deep breath. The canyon looked so peaceful from above, but she knew that down below everything was in utter chaos. Yet the sun was directly above her, casting a beautiful light over the place. 

It was then that she saw the flash of orange and grey to her left. Above Blue Team’s base, someone in armor similar to their own stood above, watching through the lens of a rifle. That gut feeling of being watched came back, and she was suddenly validated in her own paranoia. 

Activating her camouflage, Tex got up and slowly circled the edge of the canyon, watching the orange and grey soldier. He disappeared beneath her into what she could only assume was some sort of hidden cave system. Hoping that the cave system opened up on the other side, she moved to the other edge and crouched down, waiting. 

Minutes passed, a slight breeze picked up. She waited, hardly breathing, not moving. During the Project, the original Beta would spend hours perched outside a facility, waiting for the perfect opportunity. Now, Epsilon-Beta would wait as long as it took.

Finally, the soldier came back into her view. She was right. 

He made his way down a worn path hastily, not paying attention to his surroundings. Standing up, Tex took a few steps back before catapulting herself off the edge of the cliff. For a few seconds, she fell through the air, the rush of the air around her pumping adrenaline through her silicon veins. 

Landing very loudly, she reached back, grabbing her shotgun and drew it. Cocking it, she was already pointing it at the soldier as he whipped around, swearing. The camo wore off, and she stood in front him, a deadly adversary.

“Put the gun down, asshole.” she growled, taking a step forward. “Or else.” 

Casually, he lowered his rifle. “Oh shit, it’s just you. I thought you might be someone else.” He said, a cocky edge to his tone. He relaxed, visibly, shoulders shrugging down and stance widening. 

“And who the hell did you think I was?” she asked, not relaxing an inch. 

Seeing that she wasn’t backing down, he held one hand up. “Easy there, Agent Texas. I’m not the bad guy, I’m on your side.” 

Taking one step closer, she frowned. “How the hell do you know who I am?” 

“Well, not everyone knows who you are. But I was still in the military when you made your raids on all those facilities years ago. Stealing weapons, ammo, explosives… You made quite a name for yourself, even for a Freelancer.” He said, stepping back. “It wasn’t hard to guess who you were, black armor, doesn’t get along well with others… An obsession with cars and guns.” 

She frowned as he said all of this. She didn’t remember raiding any facilities, but she had clearly made a name for herself after she left the Project. “I get it. You clearly know who I am. Now who the fuck are you?” 

“My name is Felix.” Holding both hands up now, he took it slow. Being careful. He was smart. “I’m part of the resistance on this planet, Chorus. I’ve been watching you and your team, waiting for the right time to get you all out of there. The people of this planet need your help.” 

“How the fuck am I supposed to believe you?” 

“Honestly?” He asked, shrugging his shoulders. “You’re not. And I don’t expect you to. You’re a former Freelancer, and one of the scariest fucking ones there is. But you’re also not an idiot.” 

Keeping the gun up, her eyes narrowed as he kept talking, “But you’ve been feeling that gut feeling, right? That paranoia that tells you you’re being watched. And you were right. But I’m not the only one. There’s a mean son of a bitch out there watching you too, and he’s not going to ask for your permission before getting all of you out of there. Remember when I said I was part of the resistance? Well he’s what we’re resisting. And he doesn’t care what it takes to get you to go with him.” 

Shaking her head, Tex needed a second to process all of this. There were other people on this planet, and it seemed like they were caught up in some sort of civil war. And now they wanted the Reds and Blues to help? 

“Why the hell would you want those idiots’ help?” She finally asked, adjusting her position ever so slightly. Enough to not come across as too threatening, but still defensive. 

He snorted, shaking his head. “Are you kidding me? Why wouldn’t we? They took down Project Freelancer, and killed one of its toughest agents! They’re heroes, at least to the people here.” 

“None of them have any actual combat skills or training.” 

“But they’re an inspiration. Surely, you can understand that. I mean why else would you hang around them?” Felix asked, tilting his head to the side. 

“What if we don’t want to get involved?” 

Shrugging again, he leaned to one side. “Unfortunately, you don’t have much of a choice. You’re stuck here, with no way off of this planet.” 

“So you’ll hold us hostage until you win?” 

“Not us, the Federal Army. Look-- It’s a lot. And I don’t really have the time to sit here and explain all of it, not with Locus still out here.” Glancing behind him, he looked back at her. “I gotta get back, and so do you.” 

“And in the meantime, what the hell am I supposed to say to everyone else?” Tex asked, tightening her grip on her gun. “No one will trust you.” 

“You don’t really have much of a choice.” He said with a sigh, turning away from her. Clearly he could tell she wasn’t about to shoot him, yet. “Listen, tell them.. Don’t tell them. That’s not up to me. Just be ready, because one or another… You’re all going to be involved in this.” 

A voice called out to him, and he looked back at her. “And that’s my cue. It was a pleasure meeting you, Agent Texas. Keep in mind what I said.” With that, he ran off, and Tex.. Just let him. 

The sound of a vehicle starting up filled the forest, then died out as it drove away. Moving to sit up against the wall of the canyon, Tex slumped down, pulling out a small radio as she did so. 

The planet was inhabited. And it was steeped in a civil war. There was no way off the planet until things were resolved. And not one, but two assholes were watching them. One wanted them to be rescued peacefully, the other… Not so much. 

Flipping the radio on, she listened to it’s buzz for a long minute before bring it up to her mouth. 

“Wash? It’s Tex. We need to talk…”


	12. cocteau twins - alice (pt.ii)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wash and Tex formulate a plan. At Blue Base, Tex has no idea what the fuck a social media is.

The hum of the machines made it easy to talk without being overheard, which was perfect for Tex and Wash. They stood in the heart of the dead ship, and she stayed still while he paced. For a good, solid five minutes Tex explained what had happened, with Wash getting more anxious with every passing second. 

When she stopped talking, he finally stopped pacing, and looked at her with a worried look on his face. They had both taken off their helmets, the risk of being overheard on the comms channel was just too great. 

“What are we going to do, Tex?” 

“The way I see it is this, we go with the Felix and join the resistance. Or we resist, and be taken by force by the… ‘mean son of a bitch’.” She used air quotes to refer to other one, crossing her arms and leaning back on a wall. “Either way, we’re dragged into this mess and fucked.” 

“Do you think Carolina and Church know?” 

“If they do, why haven’t they come back for us?” She asked, looking away from him. “Not sure I want to know the answer to that one.” 

“I agree.” He sighed, running a hand over his face. “What are we going to tell them?” 

“Think we can take the asshole trying to kidnap us?” 

“If it’s just him? Probably. But if he has an army…” 

“Then with those idiots running around, we're fucked, yeah.” Groaning, Tex slumped down to the ground, resting both of her arms on her knees. She had taken out whole armies and private security personnel before, but this was different. This time she had to worry about a group of god damn idiots getting in the way. “We can’t tell them.” 

Wash sat across from her, a rifle across his lap, and he frowned. “Normally I would disagree, but with the things are going…” 

“It would fuck things up even more. Cause panic.” Glancing up at the ceiling, she pursed her lips for a few seconds, thinking. Right now, tensions were high enough. Add in a civil war, and warnings of violence… It would make things worse. Sarge was looking for a fight, if given the opportunity he could run off to a battle at any second. And Caboose’s MANTIS was already proving to be deadly. 

“Let’s.. Avoid the drama for now. If we’re lucky, we can get the comm. Tower up and running quickly, before Felix tries to rescue us and before that asshole tries to kidnap us. Maybe we’ll get rescued by the UNSC.” It wasn’t a whole lot of hope, but it was what she and Wash needed. 

“And if that doesn’t happen?” 

Glancing back at him, Tex sighed and shrugged her shoulders. “We let Felix rescue us, and bide our time…” 

“It’s not a perfect plan.” Wash said, frowning, “And if they find out, they’ll be pissed.” 

“They’ll have to trust us. We both know how this could go.” 

Nodding his head, Wash looked up at the now defunct screens. They were shattered, cords frayed and splayed out. Every now and then, a jolt of electricity shot out of them. He was quiet, contemplating. 

Leaning her head to rest back on the wall, Tex took a moment to contemplate things as well. It was a fucked up situation, with no real good solution. But her first priority -- her only priority, really -- was to protect the Reds and Blues. Even if it meant lying to them. 

“You should try to find Church and Carolina.” Wash finally said, interrupting their silence. Turning to look at him, Tex raised an eyebrow at him. 

“And leave you assholes behind? Fuck that shit. I’m staying here.” 

He turned to look at her as well, blue eyes boring deep holes into her. “We need them, Tex, and you know it. We could use Epsilon’s A.I. abilities to fix the comm. tower, and Carolina could help with the… Federal Army situation.” 

“Hell no. What happens if I leave and they show up? You’re a damn good soldier, Wash, but you’re not me. You need me to stay, not go off on a fuckin’ wild chase looking for two people who don’t want to be found.” 

There was another long, drawn out sigh. “I figured you would say that.” Standing up, he moved to grab his helmet. “Oh well. It was worth a shot.” 

Reaching for her own helmet, Tex quickly put it on. “Guess we should be heading back, in case Caboose sends his pet after us.” Wash said, holstering his rifle. 

“Right. Don’t want to end up as target practice.” Hopping up on her feet, she glanced back at where they had been sitting. “Let’s hope we made the right decision here.” 

“Let’s hope this resolves it quickly.” With an exasperated noise, Wash led them both back outside to the canyon.

 

As they got back to Blue Base, Tex considered herself lucky that Caboose was too busy fucking around with Freckles to pay attention to her and Wash returning from patrol early. Or the fact that she hadn’t been around for the morning meeting. Getting shot by a giant death machine wasn’t on her list of things she wanted to do. 

“What the hell..” Wash muttered as they walked through the entrance. In the main area, Simmons was sitting in front of a large computer, typing away madly at the keyboard. Tucker was watching from afar, a mildly curious look on his face. 

“What is all of this?” He asked as he walked up, Tex following his lead. There was a white screen on the computer, but as Simmons typed more things began to appear. 

Not looking away from the computer, the red soldier replied, “It’s the future!”

Tucker turned to both of them, looking unimpressed. “Where the hell have you two been?” 

The two freelancers shared a quick look. “I’ve been doing everything I can to keep us alive.” Wash said indignantly. Tex, not forgetting their argument, frowned at him. 

“On patrol. Like usual. Keeping us safe from enemy threats, the works.” 

“Oh really?” Tucker asked, raising an eyebrow. Tex could feel a fight in the works. “Then where were you when Freckles tried to kill me earlier for calling his tiny hat stupid?” 

“I’m sorry, I thought you didn’t need me protecting you, Tucker.”

“Hey, guys.” Simmons cut into their conversation, momentarily distracting the two. “I’m trying to revolutionize the world of inter-canyon communication. So if you could keep it down, that would be great!” 

Rolling her eyes, Tex turned to Tucker. “What the hell is he talking about?” 

“Fuck if I know.” He replied. 

“I’m talking about… The internet!” Apparently satisfied, Simmons finally stood up and pointed to the screen. On it was a rainbow logo that said “Simmons” with a search bar underneath. As he spoke, the computer played a small welcome message. 

Staring at the screen in what she could only describe as bemusement, Tex turned to Simmons. They were trapped on a planet, with very little resources and a desperate need to use what resources they did have on fixing their communication tower, but Simmons had wasted not only his time and knowledge, but also their limited resources…. On the internet. 

“Oh my god.” Tucker said frantically, turning to the other two. “Everybody leave. Everybody leave right now. There’s something I’ve gotta do.” 

Ignoring the feeling of disgust she had at Tucker’s implications, Tex raised an eyebrow at Simmons. “The.. Internet? Why?”

“Seriously. You’re gonna see some shit if you don’t leave.” Tucker warned, but again everyone ignored him. 

“Well, it’s not actually the internet.” Moving to the window, Simmons pointed across the canyon at Red Base. “The only two points of communication are Red base and Blue base.” 

A loud groan came from Tucker, who fell onto the floor dramatically. “Why would you lie to us like that?” 

“You put one of these at Red base, too?” Wash asked, moving up to the computer with a curious look on his face. 

“Yeah.” Simmons looked proud of himself, grinning like an idiot. “I had to sneak past Freckles, but it was totally worth it.”

“Okay.” Tex raised a hand, interjecting. “Ignoring Tucker’s porn addiction and inability to get himself off without it--”

“Fuck you too.” 

“--Why would you spend all your time, and our resources on making a… copy of the internet?” 

Stepping back over to the console, Simmons pressed a button and grinned at everyone. “Behold!”

The screen switched from the Simmons logo, to a new screen that simply said “Basebook” with an option to login. 

“... Basebook?” Wash asked. 

“Yup!” Cue the continued proud look on Simmons’ face. “It’s a site that lets you post pictures, videos and even text posts so that your friends always know you’re up to! It’s revolutionary!”

Tex stared in confusion at the screen. What the hell was the point of all of that? 

“Revolutionary? The first social media sites were created hundreds of years ago.” Wash said, scoffing. 

“And,” Tucker added, “There are no friends in this canyon. Only forced acquaintances.” 

Not wanting to openly admit her embarrassment at not knowing what a social media site was, Tex scooted closer to watch and hid the confused look on her face by pretending to be amused.

“Yeeeeaaah. But those old sites just turned into conglomerations of attention whores. Nothing but teenagers who wanted to prove they were cool and old people who wanted to prove they were still relevant.” 

“Wash.” Tex whispered, as Tucker continued to ask Simmons more questions. “I’m confused, what the hell is a… social media site?”

“Wait.” Wash turned to her, looking baffled. “You don’t know what a social media site is?” 

She shook her head. 

“I… I’ll explain it to you later.”

As they whispered to one another, Simmons started to cry just a bit, and Tucker shot them both a ‘help me’ look. Taking a deep breath, Wash reached out and patted Simmons on the shoulder. “I’m glad you spent your time in captivity here on something meaningful.”

“So you made it. What now?” Tucker asked, looking relieved at Wash’s help. 

“Well…” Wiping away a tear, Simmons turned to the computer. “Let’s see what Sarge is up to.”

“Social media sites are a way for friends to.. Catch up on each other. You can share photos, update what you’re doing, send cash.. Things like that.” Wash whispered in the interim. Tex felt herself being only more confused. Why would anyone want that?

“Why?” She asked, glancing up at him. 

“Not everyone hates social interaction.” 

“Uh. Huh. Hmmmm.” Simmons frowned, clicking on the mouse. “He hasn’t set up his profile yet. That’s… Cool.” It was like watching someone have a mental breakdown in real time. “Um… I’ll just wait for an update. He has to have an update. Yeah, I’m sure it will come eventually. Huh. Updates. Yeah…”

Wash and Tex shared a glance as Simmons sat down in front of the computer, sounding defeated. “Y’know… Maybe you should go outside for a bit, Simmons. I’m sure Caboose wouldn’t mind if you got some fresh air.” 

“No, no. It’s.. It’s cool. I’ll just save Sarge some time… and make a profile for him! Yeah. That’ll be… Fun. And I’ll do a post about it, just so he knows…” Trailing off, Simmons began to rapidly type at the keyboard again. 

Turning to look at Wash and Tex, Tucker just gave them both a nasty look. “Hope you like the new Blue team, Wash. You really worked your magic.” 

Glaring at him as he walked away, Tex turned to follow him as he walked down the hallway into their bunks. Outside, Caboose fucked around with Freckles and their damn tiny hats. On the floor in front of them, Simmons continued to have a fucking break down. Taking a deep breath, Wash sighed and looked at Tex. Even under his helmet, she could tell he looked defeated. But what could she say? There was nothing she could do to help. As she shrugged, he just shook his shoulders and walked away. 

 

The computer terminal flashed in front of her, broken segments of code filling up the screen before disappearing. It was all so random, so disjointed and broken… It wasn’t the best option for her first try, but she didn’t have much of a choice.

Closing her eyes, Tex took a deep breath and reached her hand out to touch the terminal screen. Counting to three, she waited… And then, she jumped.

Opening her eyes, Tex found herself in a long, dark hallway. Except the walls weren’t really walls, they were segments of code flashing by her, too quick to fully comprehend. Walking down the hall, she looked around as the code flashed by. Numbers and letters, none of it making any sense. 

But she was in the terminal. She was part of it. That was the first step. The next step was learning how to comprehend all of it, if she even could. 

Reaching out, Tex touched a letter as it flashed by, and felt a jolt. The letter filled her mind, threatening to take over. All she could think of was it, over and over and over and over and over and over and over--

Until she pushed herself back, falling onto the floor. Her mind spun around in circles, still trying to figure out what had happened. She stood up again, and reached out to touch another letter, and she was so close--

“Tex?” A familiar voice called out. But she ignored it, she didn’t want to pay it any attention. 

“Tex, where are you?” It called out again, this time closer. Her hand touched the code, and again it was all she could think about. Numbers, letters, filling her mind, her body, her entire being until there was nothing left. It was like being in the memory unit all over again, nothing but those memories falling around her, consuming her as she struggled to stay alive. 

Once more, she fell. Around her the code shattered like glass, falling as she did and it was all she could do to hold on and not become broken and fragmented like it. It was overwhelming, consuming her. Why didn’t she just let go? Resisting was so difficult, after all… 

Someone called out to her. Was it Church? No, why would he call out to her? He didn’t care anymore, that had been obvious. It had to be someone else… Someone who cared… 

Gasping, Tex’s body jolted as she jumped back into it. Every fiber of her being burned, and for the first time in her life her head hurt. Before she could help herself, she was backing up into the wall then falling against it. 

“Jesus fuck.” Running a hand over her face, she looked up at Wash. “How long was I in there?” 

Wash moved to sit next to her, helping her sit up properly. “I don’t know, you were in there when I came in. What the hell were you doing?” 

Groaning, she leaned to her side. “I was… Trying to do what Epsilon can do. Go into computers, examine data. But it was too.. Broken and corrupted. I couldn’t understand it, and I just wanted to… Be a part of it.” Looking up at him, she sighed. “Did you need me?” 

“Tucker is.. Having issues with the tower. I wanted to let you know I was going to go help him.” Wash said, touching her forehead. “You’re… Sweating.” 

“This body was meant to trick the original Beta A.I. into believing she was the real Allison Church, it can do some fucking amazing things.” She muttered, reaching up to wipe away the sweat. “Can I go with you? I need to be.. Outside.” 

“Of course. Can you stand?” He asked, rocking back on his heels to help her up. 

“I..” She hated admitting moments of weakness, but this was one of them. “Give me a second?” 

Nodding, he instead moved to sit next to her. They sat in silence for a while, as Tex recovered, catching her thoughts. “Did I ever tell you what happened to me, after Epsilon… ‘Forgot’ me?” she asked, using air quotes. 

“No.” Wash said, looking at her, waiting for her to continue. 

“I fell. One moment I was standing right next to him, the next I was falling through… Something, some darkness. And all around me were his memories of me, shattering like glass and falling with me..”

“I’ve never felt.. Afraid of anything. Death or otherwise. I was built and created to handle the things the Director and Church couldn’t. I was the amalgamation of their failures. How could I be afraid? And yet…” 

“At that moment, Wash..” She trailed off, closing her eyes and pulling her knees close. “I felt truly scared. I didn’t want to die. How could I die? I still had so much left I needed to do, I needed to see..”

Wash continued to stay silent, letting her continue. She wasn’t sure what to say, how to phrase what she needed to. “Being in that terminal again, everything was so broken-- I fell again. And I was scared, again. For the second time in my life.” 

Finally, she opened her eyes again and turned to him. He was watching her with sad, empathetic eyes. “Can you imagine that, Wash? Me, Agent Texas… scared.” 

“You have nothing to be scared of, Tex.” Wash reached out, placing a hand on her knee. “Not as long as I’m here, I’ve got your back.” 

“Thanks.” She gave him a small smile, before taking a deep breath and pushing herself off of the floor. “Alright, enough.. Stupid emotional crap for one night. Let’s go fix that damn tower so that we don’t have to be kidnapped and forced to participate in a stupid civil war.” 

He laughed, getting up with her. “You make it sound so easy.” 

“It will be. Hopefully. Oh, and Wash?” 

“Hm?”

“Tell anyone about this, and I will kick your balls in so hard that your grandchildren's great grandchildren feel it.” She said, glowering at him. “I mean it.” 

He snorted, and crossed his heart. “Scouts honor.”


	13. ramin djawadi -- paint it black

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Caboose, Wash, Tex and Tucker make up. Things start to heat up....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to get one last chapter in before the start of my work week. We're starting to get to the interesting parts of the Chorus trilogy, and one chapter closer to the highly anticipated Church family reunion....

As Wash went ahead to the communications tower, Tex stayed behind. Down below, Simmons was crying manically, but she did her best to ignore it. There was a feeling she had, something in the air had changed. It was like before, when she knew they were being watched. But… Different. 

Ducking into her room, she stood at the entrance. On the other side of the wall was a gun. A sniper rifle. One of the newer models, with a better scope and higher accuracy. Weapons only got better and better. 

It used to belong to Church. Now it belonged to her.

Taking it off of it’s mount on the wall, she slung it across her back and sighed. At some point, she and Church would reunite, and they would need to talk. ‘Talking’ had never been their strong point, with both of them having anger and aggression issues but… They needed to talk. 

Tex still… cared for him. She wasn’t sure if “love” was the right word, but there was something there that could never be undone. She was part of him, made from him. She could never truly hate him. But as much as she cared for him, she was also angry. Betrayed. 

How would he take it? Her being alive? 

Would he be angry?

Try to kill her off? 

Would he accept it, and would they be able to move on? 

Tex couldn’t be sure. All she could do at the moment was protect the only other people she cared for. Her family. 

As she left the base, ignoring Simmons and stepping over his mess, Tex contemplated that word. Family. For whatever reason, she cared about the Reds and Blues, and they cared for her. Even when they managed to piss her off and see red, she still could never do anything to permanently injure them. Temporarily? Yes. Permanently? Of course not. 

It was strange, for her. Having a family. In all of her incarnations, she had always been a loner. Allison Church was too different and too solitary to have a “true” family. Beta-Tex had been isolated by the Director on purpose to control and manipulate her. And now, Epsilon-Tex… 

Looking up at Wash and Tucker, she paused for a moment. They were her family. She was not alone. And she never would be, again. 

Climbing up the ladder to join them, Tex listened in on their conversation. They were arguing, like normal. That was typical at this point. Par for the course. But what about?

“I don’t want to do this!” Tucker snapped as Tex climbed over the edge. “Did you ever think of that? All I wanna do is stand around and talk to my friend, like the good old days. But he’s gone now, and all I have left is.. You two.” He ended, looking at Tex as she joined them. 

Wash turned around as she joined them, confused, “What?” 

“It’s fucking bullshit.” Tossing his rifle to the ground, Tucker turned to the console. Tex stepped up to Wash, frowning at him. He seemed to pause for a second, taking in what Tucker had said. When he had finished, he glanced at Tex before looking back at Tucker. 

“Did you know that I was one of the worst freelancers in my squad? There was Agent York, our security specialist. Agent North, the sharpshooter, Carolina was an expert in martial arts and Tex here was…” He looked at her, and she could hear the grin in his tone. “Well, you know her.” 

“Cool story bro.” Tucker said, not looking at either of them.

“It’s the truth.” Tex said, putting her hands behind her back. “I’ll admit, I wasn’t actually there for any of it.. But based off of the memories I have… Wash fucking sucked.” 

He snorted, shaking his head. “I was known for getting a grappling hook stuck to my balls. Or almost getting hit by more cars then I can count.” 

“Wasn’t there one time where you weren’t anywhere near a road, and yet somehow a Warthog was sent flying at you?” Tex asked, grinning and nudging him. 

“That… Was.. Yeah, not my best day.” He admitted. 

By that point, Tucker had poked his head up, and turned around. “Okay, where are you two going with this?” 

“Church was your leader for years. You two knew each other inside and out.” Wash said, stepping forward. Tex grimaced at his phrasing. 

“Dude…” Tucker whined, shaking his head. “Don’t phrase it like that! Or, at least not with me.” 

Rolling his eyes, Wash shook his head. “My point is, I’m still new to all of this. I’ve never really had to lead anybody before. But when Church and Carolina disappeared, I didn’t have a choice. I had to try…” 

“I mean, I could have led you all, but I’m not sure that would be any better.” Tex joked, while Tucker just frowned at her. 

“Well, there’s your problem. You’re trying too hard, man! I mean, Church wasn’t the best leader ever, but he never made us run laps or do push ups or anything. He just took the blame when shit went wrong.” 

“Well.” Wash sighed, looking at around the base. “We’re shipwrecked, low on good and have to do whatever Caboose tells us or we’ll all be killed by a robot.”

“Sounds like you really fucked up.” Tucker stated, bluntly.

“Yeah. Kinda looks that way.”

“Mm.” Tex shrugged her shoulders. “Could be worse.” 

“Oh really?” Tucker asked, turning to her. “How?” 

“Sarge could have built a killer death robot in response to Freckles that he has no control of and is going to kill us all.” 

“Jesus. I don’t want to know what goes on inside of your mind.” Turning from Tex, Tucker looked at Wash. “Well. I guess you weren’t technically our leader when the ship crashed. So.. Guess you don’t have to take the blame for that one.” 

“Ah. I’ll uh… I’ll take some of the blame for that.” 

“Whatever.” Tucker rolled his eyes, turning back to the console. Looking at Wash, Tex reached out and nudged him. Clearing his throat, Wash stepped forward and Tex stepped back. Maybe they had finally worked things out. 

“So, are you gonna fix this radio or not?” 

“Well, when I started the radio was working but the signal wasn’t strong enough. Now it’s just… Not working.” Tucker said, frowning as he fiddled with the knobs. 

Wash shot Tex a small look. “Sounds like you really fucked up.” 

“Don’t be a dick.” 

“You’re a capable soldier, Tucker. At least…”

“.. At least compared to everyone else in this canyon, besides Wash and I.” Tex cut in for him, and he shot her one grateful look. 

“She’s right. You just need to… try.” 

“Oh.” Tucker suddenly said, ignoring them and reaching out. 

“What?” Both Tex and Wash asked in unison. 

“It was just turned off.” 

“That’s great!” Tex said, suddenly feeling a small amount of hope as she moved forward to try and help. That hope was cut short when Caboose appeared, making an announcement. 

“Attention Blue team!” He shouted, then faking an echo, continued, “Team.. Team… Team.” 

Groaning a bit, the trio got up and looked down at where Caboose was standing with Freckles. 

“Uh… Yes, Captain?” Wash asked, sounding on edge. 

“Listen. I know we all said we wanted to fix the radio. And that was really important. To… Fix the radio and the tower and all that is really important…” He said, trailing off. 

“We’ll probably die if it’s not repaired.” Wash said. 

“We will most definitely die if it isn’t repaired.” Tex said, not adding in the ‘We’ll die by civil war’ bit. 

Nodding, Caboose looked away from them, gripping his rifle ever more. “But. Um. I really need you guys to go back to Blue base and kinda… Clean up.”

“Clean… Up?” The trio asked, looking at one another. 

Tucker was the first to look down at Caboose again. “Clean up what?” 

All of the sudden Tex remembered the mess she had stepped over, and Simmons’ hysterics. 

“Garbage, and robot parts and gross socks all over.” Caboose replied, looking up at the sky. “Simmons. Yeah.. Simmons actually won’t stop rocking back and forth in the corner and it’s kind of.. Um.. Kinda freakin’ me out.” 

“And you’re sure you mean Blue base?” Wash asked, and Tex sighed. 

“Do not question your commanding officer.” Freckles said monotonously, and Wash took a step back. 

“Okay, okay. We’ll be there in a few minutes.” Wash assured him, turning to Tex and Tucker. As he did so, Caboose hopped onto Freckles’ back, and Tex shook her head. 

“I saw it while I was walking out. It’s a mess.” She said. 

“Assistant Captain Best Friend Freckles, initiate piggyback sequence!” Caboose commanded, and the two stomped off. 

“You both realize we’re going to die because of him, right? That’s a thing we’re all aware of?” Tucker asked, looking at the two of them. 

“Tucker, Tex. I need you both to head back to the base and do what you can. I’m going up to the ship.” Wash said, sounding as if he had a plan. Tex did her best not to be abrasive over the fact that he had the audacity to tell her what to do. 

“You’re leaving me again!? What the fuck do you need to go on the ship for?” Tucker asked, and Tex frowned. 

“Hey, I’ll be with you. And I’m made of metal and steel and shit. You’ll be fine.” She assured him, nodding to Wash. 

“I found something. I just need you two to buy me some time.” 

“Why? What are you going to do?” 

“Hopefully…” Wash looked at the both of them, exhaling a bit. “Hopefully I’m gonna put a stop to this.” And with that, he turned to get down the ladder. 

“Well that was cryptic as fuck.” Tucker commented, turning to Tex. “C’mon, we better go get back to the Base or risk death by giant robot.”

“Yeah.” Tex said, gesturing for him to go first. He shrugged, then followed Wash down. They both slid down the ladder, landing on the grass. As Wash made his way hastily to the ship, however, they both went back to base. 

“Hey, Tucker?” Tex asked as they walked. “There was something I’ve been.. Meaning to tell you.” 

“Yeah?” 

Taking a deep breath, Tex prepared herself for what was about to come out. “I guess.. What I want to say is.. I’m sorry for how I’ve treated you. The shit I said. Was pretty fucked up.” 

“Whoa.” Tucker stopped, turning to her. “You’re actually apologizing? To me?”

“Ha-ha. Hurry up and accept my apology, before I take it back. Preferably with a punch.” She said, rolling her eyes.

“Man..” He said as he started walking again, shaking his head. “Never thought I’d ever hear you say those words. You okay?” 

Looking at the ground as they walked, Tex shrugged a bit. “I’m fine. I guess I’ve just been.. Thinking about the people in my life and how I want to treat them.”

“Huh. Well. Thanks, Tex. It means a lot.” 

“Don’t mention it.”

 

Later that day, Tex sat in her room, going over her list of what types of weapons they had, for any future attack on the canyon. It wasn’t an ideal list, they needed more grenades and ammo, but it would work. If it came down to it. 

Tossing the list onto her bed, she sighed and sat back. In a few hours it would be evening, and everyone would be asleep. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do. Jumping back into the terminal might prove dangerous without someone there, and who knew how Freckles would act if he saw her prowling around at night, laying down minefields? 

“Hey, Tex.” Tucker said, cutting through her thoughts. “Come see.” 

Opening an eye, she turned to look at him. “What’s up?” 

“Wash is back, and it looks like Freckles might kill him.” Was all he said before leaving. 

Shit. 

Hopping up, Tex hastily caught up to Tucker. “What the hell do you mean? What’s going on?”

They stopped in front of a window, and Tucker pointed out at Wash, who was engaged in a standoff with Freckles. Caboose stood below them, talking to both Wash and Freckles. 

“See, he’s just doing what he just said!” Caboose said cheerfully, and Tex could see Wash gulp and tighten his grip on his rifle. As he did so, she moved into position, getting Church’s sniper rifle out and setting up at the window. If she could hit him at the right spot… 

“Caboose, please come here. I need to talk to you.” 

Muttering about something or another, Caboose left and went out of the Base to where the two were. Wash coughed awkwardly, and Tex waited with Tucker besides her. Tense. 

“Yes, hello. What seems to be the problem, Agent Washington?” 

Lowering his weapon, Wash looked at Caboose, then turned to Tucker and Tex inside the base and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Caboose. I’m sorry your best friend left you without saying goodbye. Maybe he thought you would try and stop him or maybe it was too hard for him to tell you but, no matter the reason, he's still gone. He left you, both of you.” 

“I don't really do emotional things and I hoped you might have been able to get over this by yourselves so I left you alone, and instead of coming to terms with what you lost, you replaced it with, well, the first thing you found. But I should have been there for you Caboose because, that's what friends do for each other…”

As Wash talked, Tex felt her grip on the sniper rifle loosening. Somehow, Wash had been able to find what it took to be a good leader. To cross the bridge between him, Tucker and Caboose. 

Of course, Freckles spoke once more, causing Tex to go back to her tense posture. 

“Captain Caboose is not your friend, he is your commanding--” 

“Uh, no. We’re all friends here, Freckles. It’s, you know. Friends. Friendship.” Caboose cut him off, looking between the two. 

“That’s right. And, as your friend. I want to say that I’m sorry.” From behind him, Wash pulled out an older helmet, tossing it onto the ground. “I know it’s not much, but I made you this.” 

Caboose rushed to the helmet, ecstatic. “Oh my god! My old helmet!” 

“Captain Caboose.” Freckles said, threatening to ruin the moment. “You should return to your duties.”

Wash moved to stand by Caboose, reaching out to place a hand on his shoulder. “I know you really like Freckles, Caboose. But you have to understand that he’s very dangerous. He’s not a puppy anymore…. A kitten? Or… He’s really big.” 

“Yeah… He blew up a car.”

“I remember that.”

Caboose walked up to Freckles, and as he did, Tex slowly pulled the sniper rifle down. “Freckles, you-- you’re one of the best machines I know. And that is saying something because I have been friends with a lot of machines. But.. From now on,” He glanced back at Wash, nodding, “From now on I think you should listen to Agent Washington.”

There was a pause, and then,

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, yeah. He’s very smart, and really nice.” 

“... Acknowledged.”

Walking back to Wash, Caboose patted him on the shoulder. “You can be leader again, if you want to, Wash. It’s… It’s not as much fun as it looks. I think I’m more like the dashing second in command kind of person. Y’know, all the perks, no work.”

“Thank you, Caboose.”

Putting the rifle back on her back, Tex breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, there were no more dangerous robots to worry about. Just murderous assholes interested in dragging them into a civil war by force. 

Standing up, she looked behind her as she heard a sniffling noise. Simmons was behind them, crying. “I wish my team was this emotional.”

“Jesus Christ.” Tucker muttered, walking out. Back outside of the base, Caboose had put on his helmet, and was loudly proclaiming his love for it. 

“Ah! It fits perfectly! And look, someone left some gum!” 

Tex chose not to follow Tucker, instead she stood there, smiling at how easily things had been resolved. In her memories of Blood Gulch, things had been resolved like this as well. Everything would get hectic, then shit would just… Work itself out. Easy peasy. 

“Pretty sneaky, Wash.” Tucker said, turning Tex’s attention back to them.” A couple of mushy words, a present, and you’re right back at the top.” 

Watching Caboose, Wash shook his head. “Nothing sneaky about it. I meant every word.” 

Suddenly, Caboose grabbed his helmet. “Uh oh. I.. Ugh.. I can’t see anything. Hello?” 

“You still need to work on your craftsmanship, though.” Tucker said with a smirk. 

“OH MY GOD I’M BLIND!”

“One thing at a time, Tucker.” Wash said with a sigh. 

Gripping the edge of the window, Tex smiled as she looked down at all of them. Her idiots were getting along, finally. 

“Uh…” Caboose trailed off, walking around randomly. “Can people see me? I can’t see them!” 

“Well, at least we don’t have a killer robot to worry about anymore.” Tucker said, and Wash nodded. 

“I can finally sleep easy again.” He said, looking up at Tex, who continued to grin. Making sure her sniper rifle was securely holstered, she was about to make her way downstairs to join them. Her foot left the ground, but there was a feeling she had. Something inside of her that took control, and before she knew it she was turning back. 

Further down the canyon, four men began to creep out from behind some rocks, rifles in their hands. Taking advantage of the distraction. 

One hand went to her back, grabbing the sniper rifle. As she did so, she leaned over the edge, and screamed. 

Wash was the first to notice, and he turned. It was all in slow motion, or so it seemed to her. He turned and swore, reaching for his rifle. As he did so, Tucker ran for cover behind a boulder and Wash rolled behind one parallel to Tucker. 

Ducking down below the edge of the windowsill, Tex got the rifle out. The men began shooting, and as they did so she made sure the rifle was loaded before ducking out behind her cover and taking a quick shot. One of the four men went down immediately, shot right through the head. 

“Who the fuck are these guys!?” She heard Tucker shout over the gunfire. Farther to his right, Caboose was still wandering around. 

“Why are we shooting off fireworks? Is it someone’s birthday?” He said, loudly. 

“Shit.” She muttered, looking at Simmons who sat next to her. “Don’t just fucking sit there, do something!” 

“Do what!?” He asked, his voice cracking. “I don’t have a gun!” 

“Fuck.” Grabbing her pistol off of her waist, she tossed it to him. “Now you do. Fucking use it.” 

“Freckles, cover Caboose!” Wash shouted, and Tex felt the impact of the giant robot moving. Caboose continued to sing, as Simmons stood up from cover. 

“What the fuck!?” Tex asked, but he ignored her.

“Stop shooting! We’re friendly!” Waving his arms around, he tried to get their attention, and succeeded by nearly getting shot. Ducking back down, he looked to Tex, frustrated. “That’s the opposite of what I said!” 

“And that’s the opposite of what I told you to do!” She growled, tightening her grip and popping back up again. 

As she did, she watched Tucker stand up and shoot one of the soldiers, who fell in front of his dead partner.

“Wait!” Wash cried out. “We don’t know who they are!” 

“Wash!” Tex called out, and he looked up at her. “It’s too late.” Was all she could say, hoping he would get the memo. It was too late to be rescued, too late for Felix to save them. That mean son of a bitch was here, ready to take them by force. 

“They’re the guys who are gonna kill us if we don’t kill them force!” Tucker shouted, drawing Wash’s attention back to him. He looked between the two of them, then glanced at Freckles. 

“... Freckles, take them out!” 

Standing up, Freckles fired his missiles at the two remaining soldier, blowing them up. Their broken bodies fell around their companions, dead. 

“Primary threat eliminated.” 

Tex jumped through the window, landing on the ground with a thud. As she ran to join Wash and Tucker, who left their cover, Red team ran up behind them. 

“What in Sam Hell is goin’ on!?” Sarge asked, looking to Wash. 

“Yeah, who were those guys?” Grif asked as well, and Wash and Tex shared a look. 

“We don’t know!” Tucker replied, seeming frustrated. “They just showed up and started shooting.” 

“Vaya...de repente me siento mal de no advertirle a nadie. (Oh, man... I suddenly feel bad for not warning everyone.)” Lopez 2.0 said, and Tex stared at him. He knew? How?

“Shut up, Lopez. This isn’t the time for jokes.” Sarge said, grunting.

“Y ahora me arrepiento de nada. [And now I regret nothing.]”

“Wash and I know what’s going, or at least we have an idea.” Tex finally said, looking at all of them. At once, they turned in unison towards her. 

“Wait, what? You do?” Grif asked. 

“This isn’t a conversation to be having out here. There could be more of them, we need to find cover and then we can--” Wash said, staring at Tex. Before he could finish, the orange-and-gray soldier, Felix jumped out of nowhere and deflected a sudden sniper shot at Wash with a large blue shield.

“Run!” He shouted, only able to protect himself and Wash. He held the shield up at an angle, looking determined.

Only now did Simmons raise Tex’s pistol, pointing it to Felix. “Look out! It’s another one!” 

There was another shot, and suddenly Felix’s shield disappeared as he crumpled over. “Son of a bitch!” 

“Wait.” Simmons said, turning to the rest of them. “I’m confused.” 

“What are you doing?” Felix said, his voice diluted with pain. “I said run!”

There was a movement, and suddenly someone appeared in front of them. Slowly, deactivating his camo as he did so, a man in grey and green armor stepped over the bodies of the dead soldiers. 

“Excellent work, soldiers.” This mysterious man said, and Tex could only assume he was the ‘mean son of a bitch’ Felix had referred to. “You killed my men. I suppose that makes you the real deal.” 

Making an emphasis to put her rifle in front of her, Tex stood at the defensive. 

“Okay, now I’m really confused.” Simmons said, looking around. 

“Quiet!” The man snapped, glaring at the maroon soldier. “All of you, come with me now.” 

“Fuck. No.” Tex said, but Wash shook his head at her. 

“Why would we do that?” 

“Because…” Tilting his head to the side, the man glanced at all of them. “If you don’t come now, I will have to take you later.” 

“Fuck off!” Felix said, flipping him the bird. 

“You shut your mouth, and be glad I missed your head.”

“Oh my god, you are such a douchebag.” 

“Yeah!” Tucker said, pointing to Felix. “What he said!”

The man shook his head, turning to look at Wash and Tex. “This is your last chance.” 

Both of the freelancers looked at each other, knowing what needed to be done. Without a word between them, Wash looked up at Freckles. 

“Freckles!” He said, and the giant robot fired two missiles at the man, but he was gone before they could reach their target. Instead, they sent up grass, dirt, and bits of charred armor. 

“Holy. Shit.” Grif let out an exhale as the man left, looking at everyone. “Did you see that?” 

“No!” Caboose shouted, still walking around blindly. “What happened!? Please describe it to me! Use only small words!”

Wash and Tex looked at each other once more, knowing soon they’d have to tell the Reds and Blues the truth. 

“Um..” Felix said from the ground. “Any of you guys know how to patch up a leg?” 

“I’ll go get some orange juice.” Doc said, turning to head back to Red Base.

“Wait.” Felix looked around, “That’s a thing?”


	14. trocadero - chorus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Reds and Blues get to know their new companion. Tex remembers something.

“This.. Isn’t going to go well.” Wash muttered to Tex as they stood to the side, watching Doc fix up Felix. The Reds and Blues stood off to the side, watching as well. They were just far enough away that Tex and Wash could talk to one another without them overhearing. 

“No-pe.” Tex said, popping the ‘p’ as she leaned back, crossing her arms. “But we dug ourselves into this shitty mess, so it’s up to us dig ourselves out.” 

“Great.” He groaned as Doc stepped back, grabbing a pistol. Before Tex could stop him, he held the gun up to Felix’s helmet. The orange-and-grey soldier looked taken aback, holding up his hands. 

“Hey, whoa!” 

“You need to start talking.” Wash said. 

“Hmm. Aggressive, paranoid, and a little melodramatic-- you must be Agent Washington.” 

“Ha!” Tucker snorted, slapping his knee. “Melodramatic.” 

“And that means the rest of you are the Reds and Blues.” Felix continued, looking at the rest of the group. 

“Oh my God! How did he know that?” Caboose asked, looking around. 

“We’re wearing red and blue armor.” Grif replied, sounding unimpressed. 

“But how can he tell?” 

Sighing, Grif looked at the rest of the group. “Will somebody please fix his helmet?” 

“Wash.” Tex said simply, stepping forward. “Enough. It’s time to come clean.” 

“Come clean?” Simmons asked, glancing between the two of them. Wash turned to look at her, then sighed and stepped down. Felix immediately relaxed.

Inhaling, she turned to face the rest of the group. They all stared at her, waiting. “Felix and I have met before, not too long ago. He told me why no one has come to rescue us yet. Why we’re stuck here. He tried to warn me that something like this might happen, and Wash and I ignored him.” 

“... What the fuck.” Grif said, while Simmons added, 

“Yeah, what the fuck Tex?”

Tucker stepped forward, and looked between her and Felix. “So where are we, and why hasn’t anyone come to rescue us yet?” 

“For the same reason no ones come to help them yet.” Felix said, tilting his head to the battlefield, where four men lay dead. 

“Them” Simmons asked, confused. 

“The people on this planet.” 

“What planet?” Wash asked. 

“Chorus.” 

“Never heard of it.” Said Tucker. But Tex felt something, a distant memory stirring in the back of her head. 

“Well. I wouldn’t expect you to. It’s on the very edge of colonized space, and after the war between the humans and the aliens, it was more or less forgotten by Earth and the U.N.S.C.” Felix said, rocking back on his heels. 

“We crashed in the middle of nowhere, on a planet in the middle of nowhere. Fucking beautiful, everybody.” Grif said, shaking his head and holding his hands up in defeat. 

“But how did we end up so far from home?” Simmons asked, looking around. “It should have been a short flight.” 

“Uh, one mystery at a time there, Simmons.” Sarge replied, moving nervously. That distant memory tugged at Tex, wanting to draw her in. She ignored it. 

Coughing expectantly, Felix continued. “Now, being a small planet, completely free of U.N.S.C. jurisdiction, the nice little people of Chorus decided to run things on their own. The only problem was, they didn’t do a very good job.” 

“Ugh.” Grif groaned. “History’s the worst. Can you just get to the point?” 

“The point,” Felix said, glaring at the orange soldier. “That you’ve crash landed in the middle of a civil war. And I’m on the side that’s trying to keep you alive.” 

“So you say.” Tex said, crossing her arms. “But how the fuck are we supposed to believe you?” 

“Well, for starters,” He turned to her, sounding annoyed. “I warned you about their attack. If I wasn’t trying to keep you alive, would I have done that?” 

“Wait… So you were serious? This asshole warned you and you didn’t tell us?” Tucker asked, and Tex felt a pang of worry. All she and Wash had done to restore stability was being threatened. They couldn’t return to the way things had been earlier, that would just be chaos. 

“I hoped we would be able to get the radio fixed and rescued in time.” She said, turning to Tucker. “Things were so damn chaotic, I didn’t want to take the risk of starting a panic. I was trying to protect all you assholes.”

There was a long, silent pause, while the Reds and Blues looked at one another. Finally, Grif stated, simply, “You thought we couldn’t handle it.” 

“Hours ago we were at risk of being killed by a giant robot, and were at the mercy of fucking Caboose.” She snapped, pointing at the blue soldier. “Can any of you blame me?” 

“Is someone talking about me?” Caboose asked, staring up at the ceiling. “I can’t hear you!” 

“No, you can’t see them.” Tucker said, shaking his head before looking at Tex. 

“Why don’t you let us make that decision next time?” 

“Listen, I fucked up. I’ll admit it. Can we get back to the point here?” 

“Which is?” 

“That the Federal Army is still out there. And mark my words, they’llbe back. With more men.” Felix said, interjecting. 

“But why?” Wash asked, saying what was all on their minds. “Why the attack? Why try to kidnap us?” 

Felix stared at them in disbelief. “Well, you guys are the galaxy’s greatest heroes. You took down Project Freelancer.” 

Simmons glanced at the others, and shrugged. “Well, I can see how you might think that.” 

“Because it’s absoultely true!” Sarge declared, holding up his shotgun. 

“It’s partially true.” Doc admitted. 

“But mainly false.” Grif yawned. 

“The people on this planet think you are, and that’s all that matters. And I gotta admit, my shitty attempt at a rescue mission does have a few strings attatched.” 

“What kind of strings?” Sarge asked, and Felix sighed. 

“The rebels, the side I’m on, need your help. Once they heard that you were on Chorus, they sent me out with a small team to find you and bring you back. They're hoping you might be the key to winning this war.”

As a group, the Reds and Blues and two Freelancers all turned to look at one another. There was a long, silent pause, before Grif finally spoke up. 

“Hmm… No.”

Sounding surprised, Felix asked, “No?”

“Yeah,” Simmons said, shaking his head. “No.”

“Yeah, that--that’s not going to work for me.” Caboose said. 

“Look, Felix, I hate to break it to you, but we’re in no condition to fight a war.” Wash said, stepping forward. 

Tex, meanwhile, half jokingly and yet half serious, cracked her knuckles and rolled her neck. “Speak for yourself, Wash.” 

Once more, the memory nagged at her. 

“All some of us,” Tucker said, emphasizing the ‘some of’, “Want is a ride off this shitty planet. No offense.”

“Meh.” Felix shrugged. “It ain’t my shitty planet.” 

“But aren’t you one of the rebels?” Doc asked, to which Felix replied, 

“No, I’m a freelancer.”

As if on cue, every single one of them held a gun up to Felix’s head. It was a unanimous, fluid movement, and it left Tex wondering if another Freelancer had somehow survived. 

“No-- No. I mean, I’m a mercenary. You know, gun for hire.” Felix said quickly, stammering. 

The group put their weapons down, and Grif breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank god.” 

“So, you were paid to come and find us?” Tex asked, putting her pistol away. Another tingle on the back of her neck. 

“They pay me to do lots of stuff, but yeah. You’re my current paycheck.” 

“So you want us to go fight someone else’s war, just so you can make some extra cash?” Wash asked, sounding unconvinced. 

“Uh..” Felix paused. “It’s for a good cause?” 

“Right.” Wash exhaled, then looked at Tex. It was clear he wanted her opinion, so she subtly shook her head. As much as a nice fight would be, he was right. They were not in the right condition to fight a war.

Looking back at Felix, Wash shook his head. “We’ll just take that right out of here, if you don’t mind.” 

“Yeah!” Tucker celebrated, clenching his fist. “That’s what I’m talking about! Mediocrity.” 

“Woohoo!” Grif high-fived him. “Here’s to not going that extra mile!” 

“You know…” Felix said somberly, not bothering to look at any of them. “I wasn’t alone when I came out here to find you. There were three of us. Just think about that.” With that, he turned and walked away. 

“Whatever. It’s not like we asked them to save us.” Grif said, shrugging. 

“Yeah, we defnitely didn’t build a giant radio tower to send a distress signal or anything.” Simmons said sarcastically. 

“Shut up.” Was all Grif said in response. 

Sighing, Tex glanced at Wash before walking away. The nagging feeling was only getting worse, and she couldn’t put it off forever. But there was something else bugging Tex, a feeling much deeper down inside of her. 

She didn’t care.

About the dead soldiers, about the civil war, about Felix’s dead teammates. All she cared about were the Reds and Blues, Carolina and… Church. Had Felix told her that something had happened to them, that they had died, it would have broken her. But other people dying, even if they were innocent-- she couldn’t bring herself to care.

Tex was not the most touchy-feely type of person, but she had always hoped that she was good. That she did bad things for good reasons.That she wasn’t some utterly cold, hearltess bitch. And yet--

As she stepped into her bunk, the memory suddenly took over, before she could stop it. 

 

Allison sat in front of the TV, hands pressed to mouth as she watched the news report. He never understood why she did that-- she could find out information on the war much quicker through her sources at the U.N.S.C.. But for whatever reason, she insisted on watching the news. 

“It is reported that half of the civilians on the colony planet Chorus have been killed by the Covenant, in a brutal attack on humanity.” The female news reporter said somberly, staring into the camera with blank eyes. “While the U.N.S.C. has yet to make an official statement on the attack, key analysts believe that--” 

Grabbing the remote, Leonard turned the TV off. Immediately the blonde woman’s head whipped around, blue eyes narrowed into a glare. “Am I not allowed to watch TV now, Leonard?” She demanded, sounding annoyed. 

“The doctor says you’re not supposed to do anything that stresses you out.” He said simply, leaning back. “You could read a book, instead. Or play a game with me.” 

“Hmph.” She looked away from him, resting a hand on her very pregnant stomach. “I should have been there.” 

“You would have gotten yourself killed.” He said, with a frown. Allison’s constant desire to be at the forefront of all battles worried him. It was as if she wanted to die in a glorious battle. 

“No I wouldn’t.” She replied, sounding like a child. “I’m a better soldier than that.” 

Sighing, he pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. “I told you, when you came to me, that if you wanted to abort the fetus you were more than welcome to. You wanted this child, you can’t complain about not being able to fight while you carry her.” 

Finally, she was silent. Thinking that maybe, just maybe he had finally won something, Leonard opened his eyes. She was slumped against the couch, a hand resting over her bump. Her eyes were forward, lips drawn into a pout. 

“I just hate feeling fucking helpless.” Allison finally said, and Leonard sighed and moved to sit next to her, a hand on her knee. Looking up at him, her face twisted up a bit, and she quickly sat up. “The people on that planet-- Chorus. I could have saved them.”

Sighing, he ran his hand up and down her thigh before squeezing gently. “I know, Allison. I know.” 

 

“Tex?” Wash asked, reaching out to put a hand on her shoulder. Instinctively, Tex grabbed the hand, and as she turned back to him, she twisted it back, hand around his wrist. She was so close to immobilizing him, before she realized it was just Wash. And then she let go. 

Grimacing, he shook his hand out, frowning at her. “What the hell?” 

“Sorry.” She said, shaking her head. “You scared the shit out of me.” 

“Clearly.” He looked at her, tilting his head. “What’s up?” 

Not sure if she should tell him, or if she even trusted herself enough to tell him, she just shook her head. “It.. It was nothing. Did you need something?” 

“Yeah.” Wash looked away from her, back down the hallway. “Felix has called for a rescue team, but we need to talk to him. There’s something he’s not telling us.” 

“Right. Yeah.” Tex said, nodding her head. Taking a long, deep breath, she gave herself a moment before looking up at him. “Let’s go question our new…. friend.”


	15. jeff williams - hell's angel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the fight begins.

Tex and Wash approached Felix as he stood on the roof of the base, looking out over the canyon and sighing. Sharing a glance, they stepped into the sunlight, joining him. Tex went to Felix’s left, while Wash to his right. 

“So.” Wash asked, looking down at Tucker and Caboose. “How bad is this?” 

“The man coming for us is named Locus. He’s a merc like me, only..” Turning to Wash, Felix shrugged his shoulders. “Yanno, terrifying.” 

“Locus?” Tex asked, frowning. “The asshole who attacked us earlier?” 

“Yeah. He’s probably bringing more of the Fed’s with him, too.” Felix said, looking back out at the canyon. 

“That’s… An interesting name.” Wash said, sounding curious. 

“Yeah. You’re telling me. Guy’s so far off the deep end he prefers to go by the name of his armor instead of the name he was born with.” Whistling, Felix shook his head. 

“That’s unsettling.” Wash commented, and Felix looked at him once more. 

Sarcastically, he asked, “Oh, are you first name ‘Agent’ last name ‘Washington’? That’s so weird!” 

“That’s.. Just old habits.” Wash explained, and Tex added in, 

“We’ve gone by our names for so long, they’ve become who we are.” That, and she sure as hell wasn’t going as ‘Allison’. At least not anymore. 

“Well, here’s to hoping all of your ‘old habits’ kick in when he shows up.” Felix said, looking away. “Y’know, I thought there’d be more of you. Wasn’t there supposed to be an A.I. with you?” 

Wash and Tex both glanced at one another, and Tex shifted uncomfortably. “He left with the other Freelancer not long after we crashed.” Wash finally said. 

“Sheesh. Any idea where they went?” 

“No.” 

“Hmm. Well, if it makes you both feel better I haven’t heard anything about them over the radio. So.. That’s probably good.” Felix said, and Tex let out a sigh of relief. But for who? Church? Carolina? She wasn’t sure. 

The three of them stayed quiet, watching as the Reds made their way from their base with supplies and ammunition. Tex was watching to make sure they placed it all in strategic points, but Wash seemed to have something else on his mind. 

“How was he able to cloak himself?” 

“Huh?” Felix asked in response to Wash’s question. 

“Locus. He turned invisible. How?” Wash asked, and Tex suddenly found herself curious, too. As far as she knew, only two groups in the U.N.S.C. had access to that type of armor equipment; The Freelancers and the SPARTAN’s. 

“The Federal Army’s got all sorts of fancy stuff.” Felix explained, holding out his arm. “I got my light shield off a dead soldier,” He turned it on, making a shum noise, then turned it off. “Pretty cool.” 

“Didn’t only Project Freelancer and the SPARTAN programs have access to weapon and armor tech like that?” Tex asked, curious if things had changed while she was ‘dead’. 

“Welcome to the future. Technology is incredible, and everyone uses it to kill each other.” Felix said without much more of an explanation. It seemed… Fishy. Tex knew the U.N.S.C, and she knew how hard the Director had fought to procure experimental armor enhancements. Why would an army in a deadbeat part of space have that type of technology? 

“Does that mean your guys have the same equipment?” Wash asked, and Tex turned to look at Felix. 

Felix let out a low whistle. “I wish, the New Republic’s barely getting by with what they can. You wouldn’t happen to have any high-tech armor aboard that wreck, do you?” 

“Plenty of armor.” Wash replied, “Just nothing out of the ordinary.” 

Tex frowned, wondering where the part of the ship she had been in had crashed. “How did the Federal Army get ahold of those armor enhancements?” She asked Felix, trying to sound inconspicuous. 

“Who knows? Locus has his ways.” Felix said, shaking his head. “Anyways, with the rest of your team getting ready for Locus, what exactly is you two’s plan for this?” 

Wash turned to Tex, “Why don’t you go and make sure we’re ready to go, Tex. There’s some… Old habits I might indulge in.” Looking back at Felix, he tilted his head. “Follow me.” 

With that, Wash walked off, leaving Tex alone with Felix. The orange-and-grey soldier looked at her, “Is he always that cryptic?” 

She shrugged. “Only when he wants to be.” 

 

A few hours later, Tex made her way down to where the Reds and Blues were gathered, at the front of a heavily fortified Blue Base. On her hip was a pistol and large hunting knife, holstered on her back was a shotgun and Church’s sniper rifle. She had always prefered hand to hand combat, but she liked having a wide range of options. 

“Looking good, assholes. Glad to see you were all working while Wash and I had a grown up chat.” She teased, snickering. Donut, however, seemed to take it in stride. 

“Thank you! This just goes to show that with time, effort, and a little bit of elbow grease, we really can achieve wonders!” He said cheerfully. Way. Too. Cheerfully. 

“That was an insult, idiot.” Grif said, while Tucker commented, 

“We just spent hours turning this place into a warzone, and you made me hate it in one sentence.” 

Grif just shook his head, “It’s what he does. Anyways, where the hell were you?” The last part was directed at Tex, who frowned at him. 

“I was trying to see if I could contact Church or Carolina.” 

“And?”

A shake of her head. “No such luck. They’re out of range.” 

“I think the real question is why haven’t we tried this before?” Tucker asked, and Tex sighed, 

“Wash did. It was the same thing, no response. If they heard it, they didn’t reply.” 

“So.. We’re really on our own here.” Simmons said, looking down. The other three did so as well, and Tex rolled her eyes. 

“Well, you have me, an A.I. literally designed to wreck the crap out of shit, Wash, a paranoid ex-military Freelancer who a year ago would have shot any of you without hesitation… And.. Felix.” Tex said, trying to boost their morale.  
“And Freckles!” Caboose added, and Tex nodded at him. 

“Right, and the murderous death robot.” 

“Tex is right.” Wash said, as he approached the group from the left, with Felix in tow. As he walked up, Tex couldn’t help but whistle. Since she had arrived in the canyon, he had been in Church’s old blue armor, with yellow stripes. But he had since painted over the cobalt blue with dark grey, looking how he did when they had first met. “I think we’ve got this.” 

“Oooh. Back in black. Looks good, Wash.” Donut said. 

“Yeah, that really brings back memories. Like when we first met. And then we met again.” Caboose said, “And then you shot Donut.” 

Wash seemed to ignore that comment. “I’m impressed guys. This place looks good. And between the landmines, Freckles, the tank and Tex… I don’t think anything can stand a chance against us.” He looked around, and she could practically see the pride on his face.

And then the missile hit. 

As it hit, Sarge came running from Red Base, waving his hands around comically, screaming, “RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!”

“... Sarge?” Simmons asked, as Tex grabbed the shotgun out from behind her, taking a defensive position. 

“Oh shit!” Grif shouted, “They’re here!” 

“Everyone, get ready!” Wash shouted, an authoritative tone to his voice. The Reds and Blues got behind their defensive cover, weapons at the ready. 

“Wait!” Felix shouted, and Tex felt that nagging feeling again. She didn’t, no she couldn’t trust him. “Something’s not right! Locus wouldn’t attack like this!”

“Who the fuck else would attack us!?” Tex shouted at him, cocking her shotgun. As she said that, a giant fucking robot that looked just like Freckles came running out, shouting in spanish. 

“¡Sí! ¡Sí! ¡Mira quién es estúpido ahora, Sargento! ¡Es usted! [Yes! Yes! Look who's stupid now, Sarge! It's you!]” Lopez 2.0’s voice came out, and Tex groaned. The goddamn idiots. 

“Dos Point-O, cease fire!” Sarge said, booking it for cover. “No mas! No mas!”

“Dos Point-O?” Grif asked, and now Wash groaned. 

“DISPARANDO CAÑONES PRINCIPALES. [FIRING MAIN CANNONS.]” Dos Point-O shouted, then grunted as Freckles joined the fray, positioning himself between Dos Point-O and the Reds and Blues. 

“Freckles!” Caboose said, sounding like he was being saved by superman. 

“Deadly force authorized.” Freckles said, firing up his guns. 

“Jesus fucking Christ.” Tex muttered. Nothing could ever go right, could it? Everything always seemed to fall to shit. All their plans failed. 

Failed. 

There was the key word. What had Epsilon said about her? That she was a failure, doomed to fail. No matter how tough she was. No matter how hard she fought. 

“Ay bien. ¡El maldito perro quiere protegerlos ahora! Maravilloso.[Oh great. The fucking dog wants to protect them now! Wonderful.]”

“Yes!” Donut said, popping up. “Giant robot fight! Totally called that on Basebook.” 

She needed to get out of there. The longer she stayed, the worst things would-- 

“Everyone, just calm down!” Wash shouted, as Felix suddenly raised his shield up to catch a sniper shot. 

“Shit!” Felix shouted, as Locus uncloaked himself and reloaded his rifle. 

“Surrender now, and I promise only to kill the mercenary.” Locus said menacingly. Tex felt herself starting to panic. Could she panic? 

“Well, fuck.” Simmons said, while Grif shouted, 

“You and what army?” 

As Locus replied, several soldiers began to uncloak behind Locus, moving forward as one. “The Federal Army of Chorus.” 

“Well.” Grif said, sounding unsurprised. “Guess I walked right into that one.” 

“Looks like backup isn’t getting here in time!” Felix said, looking to Wash. Tex couldn’t move. She felt frozen. What was she supposed to do? 

“Wash?” Tucker asked. “What’s the plan?” 

Tex was able to pull her head up enough to look up at Wash as he raised his rifle, aiming to some random soldier. 

“Engaging target.” Freckles said, as Wash let off a shot. 

Immediately Locus and his army began engaging with them, moving forward fluidly. “Get to cover!” Wash shouted as he charged forward, the Reds, Blues and Felix following. Only Tex stayed behind, paralyzed by a sudden fear. A rush of emotions.

Once she had awoken, and tried to get to Church, the ship had crashed. She had failed to get to Church.

The communications tower worked briefly, but failed to provide rescue. For the rest of their time, it had continued to fail.

And now, with Dos Point-O and Locus attacking, would they fail again? Could she take that risk? Was she truly Agent Texas if she was to let her own fears take over her, incapacitate her in the middle of a fight? 

“Tex!” Wash shouted out, and she looked up. A Federal Army soldier stood above her, concussion rifle at the ready. Without hesitating, Tex grabbed the knife on her hip and shot her hand up. The blade caught the soldiers wrist, and as she twisted her arm it twisted his as well, crippling his upper body. It took one punch to knock him out, and one shot to kill him. Picking up her bloodied knife, she looked around the battlefield. 

Sarge and Simmons were inside the tank, driving it towards a group of Federal soldiers. Wash, Tucker and Felix were at the front of the battle, holding off a group of soldiers. Locus was nowhere to be found. 

Tex knew at that moment that even if she was doomed to fail-- and take the Reds and Blues down with her, she would never be able to live with herself if she stood by and let it happen. It was better to go down with them in battle, than to look away and let them die. If she couldn’t save them, at least she could try protecting them. 

Running forward, Tex barreled into a soldier trying to flank Wash’s group. He grunted as she pushed him back, causing him to fall backwards into another soldier. Behind her, she heard the sound of a warthog crashing through the undergrowth. 

“Heavy artillery!” Felix shouted, as Tex shot both of the soldiers with her shotgun, looking back at the group as they retreated to Blue Base. Shooting off rounds as she retreated back with them, she watched as an orange grenade sucked the Warthog up. In front of where it had been, a group of soldiers looked around, confused. Suddenly, the Warthog reappeared above them and fell, crushing them. Grif came out from hiding, thrusting his hips forward in a victory pose, 

“Boosh! Future cubes, bitches!” 

“What was that?” Wash asked, to which Donut replied, 

“Future cubes! The cubes of the future!”

From the tank, Sarge called out, “I still think they’d be better with grenades!” 

“Kiss my ass!” Grif shouted, before a rocket nearly hit him. Tex crouched low, then made her way to Wash. 

“We’re getting murdered, Wash.” Tex said, listening to the sounds of fighting. “Do you have any ideas?” 

“I was kinda sorta hoping you would have one!” He shouted back, and she groaned. Caboose piped up from the other side of Wash, 

“I have many ideas!” At that moment, however, a rocket hit the wall above them, causing debris to shatter and fall. As they moved away, they turned to look at Freckles and Lopez 2.0 fighting. 

“Freckles!” Caboose shouted, about to run forward before Tex grabbed his ankle, pulling him back. 

Freckles stood by as Lopez 2.0 hit him with minigun rounds, shouting out, “¡Deja de dispararme y deja que te mate! (Stop shooting me and let me kill you!)” With that, he fired a missile at Freckles, and Tex watched his shields fail, swearing under her breath.  
“Shields critical.” Freckles said, and Caboose tugged against Tex’s ironclad grip. 

“We have to help him!” He shouted desperately, turning back to her and Wash. Tex glanced at Wash, who shook his head. 

“Alright! We have to grab some explosives, and.. And--” 

“Wait.” Donut said suddenly, standing up. “I know what to do.” With nothing more, he began to run towards the two death machines. Tex and Wash stared at each other in shock,

“What the fuck!?” Tex asked, and Wash just screamed to cover the pink soldier. 

Ducking out from behind her cover, Tex started to shoot at some of the soldiers who got too close, watching as Donut got in between the two robots, hands on his hips. 

“Alright, that’s enough!” He shouted, leaning to his side. Tex glanced at Wash, who just shrugged. They both watched at Lopez 2.0 spun around to look at the pink soldier. 

“¿Qué? (What?)”

“Don’t make me hurt you!”

“What the fuck is he doing?” Tex whispered. 

“¿Usted?¿Herirme a mí? Me gustaría verte intentar...Rosita. (You? Hurt me? I'd like to see you try... Pinky.)” If the robot could laugh, she was sure it must be. 

“No soy rosa.” Donut said, and it was then that Tex noticed him grabbing a future cube from his belt, “Soy rojo claro. (I'm not pink. I'm lightish-red.)”

“Espera. ¿HABLAS ESPAÑOL? (Wait. YOU SPEAK SPANISH?)” There was a hint of what Tex could only guess what shock, or maybe horror at the revelation. 

“¡Sí! ¡Pero no muy bien! (Yes! Just not very well!)” Donut shouted, suddenly pulling the cube out and tossing it at Lopez 2.0. The robot disappeared in a flash of orange light, as if he were being sucked in, but not before the robot screamed one last time, 

“Hijo de puta! (Son of a bitch.)” 

Turning, Donut leaned back and threw the cube away. Tex and Wash watched as it flew over the canyon, straight into a minefield set up by the Reds. As it landed, Lopez 2.0 fell out onto the field, activating the mines in a large explosion. 

“Well.” Wash said, as he and Tex watched in awe. “That takes care of that.” 

“Why the hell wasn’t he doing that earlier?”

“No idea. Do you know where Felix is?” He turned to her, and she shook her head. 

“Listen, there’s something more important than that--” 

“Tex, we need to find Felix. We need to know how much longer we need to hold out.” 

“Wash, would you just fucking listen to me for one second?” She snapped. “You have the Director’s memories, you know what I am. I’m a danger to you, all of you. If we fail--” 

“If we fail, then it won’t be your fault.” He said, gripping her arm. “They need you, Tex. More than you know.” 

She nodded. She figured he would say that, but she needed him to know that she knew the dangers, the risks of her participation. As she opened her mouth to say something, Sarge and his tank backed up into Blue Base. Wash let go of her hand, popping out from behind the tank. Tex moved to where Caboose was, shotgun ready. 

“Sarge, are you okay?” Wash called out. 

“Having the time of my life!” Sarge said back, then added, “The thank’s pretty beat up, though.” 

“They just keep coming!” Simmons shouted. As he shouted this, a cylinder with a red light on the top suddenly appeared on the tank, flashing rapidly. Felix appeared out of nowhere, motioning for Sarge and Simmons to go to him. 

“Get out of the tank!” He shouted, and the two reds got out quickly, dashing forward. They made their way with Wash back to where Tex and Caboose were huddled up. As they did so, the tank exploded, shrapnel spreading everywhere. 

“Damnit!” Wash said, and Tex got up as Simmons sat by Caboose, laying down cover fire. 

“Oh holy shit.” Grif commented, looking at her. “Those things explode?!” 

“You recognize that?” She asked as Donut ran up, 

“Did you guys see me!?” He asked, looking between Tex and Wash for approval. 

“Yes.” Wash said as he joined Tex, using his rifle to gun down people getting too close. “Now put those kills of yours to work and start tossing--” 

The two freelancers had to duck as a round came at them, whizzing over their heads. “--Some grenades.” 

“On it!” Donut saluted before running off back into the base. Wash and Tex looked at one another. With Donut throwing grenades from above, she knew she could easily run out and lay waste. 

As she moved to put her shotgun away, the ground beneath her shook and she looked up to see Freckles walking forward. 

“Energy levels critical.” The robot said, and Tex turned to Wash who stared up at the great behemoth. 

“Guys, Freckles is in trouble!” Caboose said, popping up from behind cover. “Uh, he looks tired.” 

“Fuck that! Hook him up to the ship! It’s got plenty of power!” Tucker said as he shot down an enemy creeping too close. Simmons stood up next to him, rushing into the main part of the base. 

“Oh, I can do that!” 

Wash looked over at Felix as Grif threw another one of his future cubes. “Felix, where’s that back up?” 

“I don’t know!” The orange and grey merc shouted, sounding tense. He suddenly threw up his shield, as a sniper shot whizzed right at him. Deactivating it, he began shooting back. 

“We can’t do this shit much longer, asshole.” Tex shouted, stepping back and grabbing her pistol in an attempt to cover Freckles. As she said that, Grif made a whining noise, 

“Uh, guys? I’m running out of cubes!” 

“Just hold on a little longer,” Wash said, shooting at a soldier who got too close to Tex. “And we’ll get Freckles back online.” 

“Uh, Wash?” Simmons’ voice came on over the radio. “That may be a problem!” 

Groaning, Wash looked at Tex. “Cover me, I’ll be right back.” 

Turning to the onslaught of soldiers, Tex curled her fists into balls, then without hesitating, ran forward. She was always better at hand to hand combat, not standing around shooting her gun. 

The first soldier closest to her raised his gun up, but was unable to get his finger on the trigger fast enough. Barreling into him, she wrapped her arms around his waist, and dug her front heel into the ground. Using it as a pivot point, she turned and threw him into two other soldiers right behind him. They fell wildly, shooting their guns in the process. The ricocheting bullets hit another man next to them, and as he grabbed at his armor she pulled her shotgun out and finished the job. 

Someone tried to make a run for her, and she reached out, grabbing him by the jugular. He gagged and groaned, dropping his gun to reach for her hands. Smirking, she used every ounce of strength she had to crush his throat, like a soda can, before dropping him to the ground. As he fell, still twitching, she turned to the group of soldiers approaching him, raising an eyebrow. 

They stopped in fear, staring at her as she rolled her neck and cracked her knuckles. “Well? What are you waiting for?” She asked, grinning sadistically as one of them dared to step forward. The hands on his gun were shaking uncontrollably, and she almost felt bad for him as he stepped just close enough for her to dart forward, punching at his midsection. That grip on his gun loosened, and she punched it out of his hands before throwing his face a quick punch, twisting his helmet back. Before he could crumple to the ground, she leaned back and gave his waist a solid kick which sent him flying back. 

Two of the soldiers dropped their guns and ran back the other way. The two who stayed gulped audibly, and one shot at her. She could feel it barely pierce her armor, and it didn’t stop her from walking up to them. As she did, the guns lowered and Tex grabbed one from out of the one who shot her’s hand, using the butt of it against his helmet. He started to fall back, and as he did she twisted her body to the side and shot him with his own gun. His body fell to the ground, and his friend backed up.  
“Please, I swear I won’t shoot just let me go, please--” He begged, and she turned to him, holding her hand out. Dropping the gun into her hand, he thanked her, and quickly ran off. Snorting, she rolled her eyes, and was about to turn to the next group when there was a sudden explosion from behind her, and then a scream. 

She glanced over at Tucker, who shook his head. Groaning, she looked out at the battlefield. The closest soldiers to them were coming from Red Base, and they were still a good enough distance away. Feeling confident that she had bought them some time, Tex jogged back to Blue Base, where she was greeted by the sight of Wash and Simmons standing over a clearly unconscious Donut. 

“What the fuck happened?” She asked, and Simmons shook his head. Wash looked up at her, then glanced over at Felix,

“If we can’t get Freckles online, we don’t stand a chance!” He shouted at the orange and grey soldier, who just stood there. 

“Wash, what the fuck happened?” Tex asked, kneeling down next to Donut. She wasn’t too fond of him, not after he had thrown a grenade at her back in Blood Gulch. But he was one of them. 

“A grenade explosion.” He said grimly, looking down at her. “Where have you been?” 

She stood back up, then looked outside. “Doing what I do best. What’s the plan?” 

“I--” Wash said, looking away. “I don’t know. If we can’t get Freckles back online, then we can use him as cover to get away. But without him--” 

“Hey, uh, guys?” Grif called from outside. Ducking out, Tex noticed that Tucker was gone. “Yeah, Tucker ran off.” 

From across the canyon, they heard a loud victory cry, and turned to watch Tucker as he cut his way through the group Tex had seen earlier. 

“Grif, try to give him some cover!” Tex shouted, pulling out her sniper rifle, and moving behind cover. Loading it quickly, she began to snipe anyone who got too close to Tucker that he didn’t notice. Within seconds, he was at Red Base and disappeared inside of it. Grif turned to focus on those creeping from the cave system, and Tex helped him. Over the comms, she relayed to Wash what was going, 

“Tucker is at Red Base.” 

“What? Okay, good, maybe we can get power back on.” 

There was a sudden shout from the base, and next to them, Freckles stood back up again. “Systems recharging.” He said, and Tex grinned. Sarge laughed maniacally, from wherever he was, and Grif cheered. 

Tex ducked back behind her sniper, scanning the battlefield, waiting for Locus. The Director had designed the active camouflage units for her, so if anyone would be able to recognize him, it would be her. 

“Shields twenty-five percent.” 

“Ha-ha! Take that, you seemingly infinite number of soldiers!” Sarge screamed, 

“Yeah! How’s it feel to get your asses kicked by a bunch of losers!?” Grif said, flipping some dead soldier off. “... Wait.”

“Alright, everyone together!” Wash shouted, coming out from the base. “We can do this!” And as he said it, Tex began to have hope. Maybe they wouldn’t fail, after all. Maybe, just maybe they could-- 

There was a glimmer in the scope, but before Tex could say anything it was too late. A shot echoed out across the canyon, and Wash crumpled to the ground behind her. 

“Wash!” Tucker screamed, and suddenly Tex felt herself running across snow and ice, trying her best to get to him. Someone had picked him up, someone in white. His body was limp in the other man's arms, teal armor flashing in the light. She was so close, she could stop it, she could stop them-- 

The man in white took Wash’s body and tossed it off of the cliff. She was too late. Screaming, her boots lost traction in the snow and she slid to a stop. The man in white didn't even seem to notice her as he placed something in the back of his helmet, not caring that he had thrown his teammate off of a cliff. 

What was worse, was there wasn’t a noise or sound that Wash made. He didn’t scream, he just fell silently. The snow fell around her, and there was silence. 

Snipers took shots all around them, and Tex blinked. Tucker was ducking behind a rock next to her, as Lopez fell to the ground. 

“ ¡¿En serio?! ¡Acabo de obtener este maldito cuerpo! (Seriously?! I just got this fucking body!)” 

“You bastards stay away from my men!” Sarge said, but was Tex really listening? “If anybody’s gonna kill ‘em, it’s gonna be me!” And then, he too was shot, his body crumpling to the ground. 

Tex quickly moved to where Tucker was hiding, kneeling besides him. The two shared a quiet look, as all around them, their teammates fell. 

“Sarge?” Grif asked, poking his head up from behind cover. There was a rumble, and another warthog rolled up, full of soldiers. Before they could do anything, Freckles got up and made his way over to the jeep. As he did, Tex grabbed Tucker’s arm. Now was the time to run, to get them to safety. Then maybe, she could go back for Wash, and Sarge and Donut and Lopez…. 

“C’mon.” She shouted, pulling him back to Blue Base. There was a tunnel there, if they could only just-- 

“Freckles, no!” Caboose shouted, and Tex turned and watched as Freckles crumpled over, flames shooting out of his joints. Pushing Tucker forward, Tex went back for Caboose. There was a silent moment as she ran across the field, before a large explosion behind her made her turn back. Soldiers suddenly began charging out, screaming. 

“For the New Republic!” One shouted, running forward into the fray. 

“They’re here! That’s our back up!” Felix said, and Tex made her way to Caboose. Putting a hand on his arm, she gently began to tug at him as the Rebel’s took over, gleefully killing the Federal soldiers. 

Freckles stood up, “E-engaging t-targets.” He said, before destroying the warthog in front of him. Felix ran up to Tex and Caboose, while Grif and Simmons joined them. 

“Get to the cave!” Felix said, looking at Tex. She nodded, tugging at Caboose’s arm again. She wanted him to go willingly, not by force. 

“But what about Wash and Freckles?” Caboose asked, shaking her off. 

“Quick!” Simmons shouted, “Someone help me carry Sarge!” 

“Caboose, come on.” Tex said, an arm around his waist now. “I’ll go back for Wash, you need to get to the cave.” 

“But--” He started to protest, but the sound of a Rebel dying made him look away from her. Locus was approaching them, quickly. Not wanting to, but feeling the need to, Tex began to pull on Caboose. 

“There’s no time! Get outta here!” Felix shouted, deflecting some of the shots Locus was shooting with his shield. 

“But--” Caboose looked up at Tex as she pulled him away, then to Grif, 

“Caboose, come on!” 

With Tex following behind them, Caboose, Grif and Simmons made a dash for the tunnel. Tucker was sitting outside of it, and he looked up at her as Felix joined them. 

“What are you doing!?” He demanded, getting up. “Where’s Wash!?”

“Tucker--” Tex said, not wanting a fight. How could she explain to him? They had no time. They needed to get out. 

“He’s still at the base!” Simmons shouted. 

“What!?” 

“Sir,” A Rebel ran up to Felix as they moved into the tunnel. “If we leave now, they’ll just follow us back to H.Q.!”

“Shit!” Felix groaned, turning to the soldiers in the tunnel. “Someone get me some explosives!” 

As Tex and Tucker followed behind him, Tucker suddenly jerked back, “Wait, stop! There he is!” 

Tex turned and watched as Wash pushed himself up. He was still alive, somehow. Locus hadn’t killed him. “Wash, Wash!” Tucker shouted, moving forward. “Come on!” 

“Tucker, no!” Tex screamed, grabbing his arm and pulling back. “He’s too far!” 

Wash looked around the battlefield. As his gaze went to the cave, he made eye contact with Tex. The woman gave him a slight nod, and he looked up at Freckles. 

“Freckles! Shake!” 

Freckles began to violently put his foot down, and as he did so the earth rumbled and rolled beneath their feet. Debris fell from the ceiling, and Tex was only just able to pull Tucker away as the cave began to collapse. “No, what are you doing!?” The aqua soldier screamed, desperation in his voice. 

Pulling back as hard as she could, Tex fell onto the floor. Tucker fell with her as debris collapsed around them, knocking him unconscious. They were safe.


	16. trocadero- contact

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tex warns felix, and informs tucker of her plans now that everything has gone to shit.

Tex stood in front of the glass, staring at Tucker as he breathed, in and out. His armor lay in a heap on the side of the bed, stripped off in an attempt to help wake him up. Pain medication had been given out, now all they could do was… Wait. 

The Rebels had welcomed them with warm, open arms. Given them food, and beds. Praised the ever loving fuck out of Grif, Simmons and Caboose. And their leader seemed… Ecstatic to see them. It was weird. It felt… Off.

“Your men fought well.” Felix said as he joined her. For the first time, she saw him with his helmet off. In another life, she wouldn’t have considered him to be bad looking. A bit weasel-y, perhaps, but otherwise… Fine. Normal. Average. 

Looking away from him, she sighed. What was she supposed to think of him? He had helped them escape, sacrificed himself several times. And yet here he was. With SPARTAN technology, hiding something from her. There was more going on, she just.. Didn’t know what. 

“Thank you. Although, they’re not really my men.” Glancing down, her eyes turned back up to him. He shrugged. 

“Still. I’ve fought with a lot of men, and they were pretty damn good.” 

“I’ll make sure to tell them you think so highly of them.”

“I’m sorry about Wash, and the other guys…” 

She sighed, closing her eyes. “It’s not your fault. It was my own damn fault. I should have known better, I should’ve--” She stopped herself, not wanting to say too much. She wasn’t supposed to trust him. 

“It wasn’t your fault.” He placed a hand on her shoulder, and she jerked back, opening her eyes to glare up at him. He stepped back, frowning. The frown softened, and he sighed and looking at Tucker. “Kimball wants to speak with you, privately.” 

Of course she did. “I’m not leaving this place until he wakes up.” She said, jerking her head to Tucker. 

“What, you don’t trust us?” He asked, jokingly. “Kind of harsh, considering we did just save your life.” 

There was a long, silent and awkward pause. Before, 

“Y’know, I’m not the first Agent Texas.” She said softly, still looking at Tucker. “I’m a second version of her, created by Epsilon.” 

“...What happened to the original?” Felix asked, sounding curious. 

“She died in the E.M.P. blast that officially took down Project Freelancer.” Standing with her legs hip width apart, Tex placed her hands behind her back, shoulders wide. “I’m supposed to be based off of her, an almost exact replica, based off of Epsilon’s memories of her.. ” 

“Huh.” Felix said, turning to look at her. 

“I have many of her memories, through Alpha or even her own eyes. I remember one conversation standing out among the rest. It was late one night, not too long after she had been created. The Director was ranting, he was pissed off.” She said, touching a hand to the glass. She could remember that night so vividly. “He had to fight the U.N.S.C. to let him use some of their experimental tech designed for the SPARTAN program. It was hard work, convincing them and all he could do was bitch and bitch and bitch about it.” 

“So you’ll forgive me, if I don’t believe your crockshit story about how you assholes got your technology.” She glanced up at him, raising an eyebrow. “And you’ll forgive me, if I don’t trust any of you fuckers.”

“Careful, Tex.” He said, his voice low and even. Face flat. “You don’t want to go around spreading any… Sort of misunderstandings. Could be dangerous.” 

She smiled at him. “Of course. You know, there is one more thing about the original Tex I think you should know about.”

“And that is?”

“The original Tex followed the Director without question or hesitation. She was killing to kill her own teammates all because he wanted her to. She was loyal to him.” 

“And to the Alpha. To Church. You see, when she broke into the Mother of Invention, she killed dozens of innocent men to get to the Alpha. They had families, husbands and wives and children… And she killed every single one that got in her way, to get to him. Because she was loyal to him.”

He stared at her, silent. Waiting.

Turning to face him, Tex gave him a wide, beautiful smile. There was no hint of menace in it, just pure happiness. Or, at least she thought. “You see, Felix. I haven’t had a chance to test out just how.. Similar I am to the original version of myself. But I’ll tell you this. I am loyal to those idiots, no matter how fucking stupid they may get. They are my idiots.” 

“So let’s hope we don’t have to see just how loyal I may be to them. It may prove to be very… dangerous for those who get in my way of protecting them.” 

Felix’s eyes widened in faux shock, and as he went to put his hands up in an innocent manner, but Tex pushed her way past him, uninterested in whatever bullshit lie he would try to produce. All she cared about was getting ready for what lay ahead. What steps she needed to take.

 

“So you must be Agent Texas.” A female voice said, and Tex turned as a woman dressed from the neck down approached her. Her short, dark brown hair was pulled up in a tiny bun at the back of her head, and her eyes were full of hesitant excitement. “Felix has told me all about you.” 

“Only what he knows so far.” Tex said, holding out her hand. The woman took it, and gave her a firm shake. 

“Vanessa Kimball. Leader of the New Republic.” 

“Allison Church. Most people call me Tex, though.” Stepping back, Tex crossed her arms. “So you run this army?” 

“Yes. You’ll forgive me for not getting down here quicker, I had… Business to attend to.” Kimball said, joining her at the window. “I want to apologize, for the fact that we had to leave some of your men behind.” 

“Felix already did. And I don’t need your apologies, Kimball.” Tex looked back at Tucker. “I need your action.”

“Believe me when I say retrieving your friends is our first priority. But it will be difficult.” The woman said with a sigh. “We will do our best, but I can’t make any promises right now.” 

“I suppose I’ll take it.” Tex crossed her arms and leaned back as Felix and a medic entered the room. “When he wakes up, tell him to meet me in the room across the hall, will you?” She asked Kimball. The other woman nodded at her, so Tex took her leave.

She needed Tucker to wake up, soon. She had to leave, and quickly. Something was going on, something she couldn’t figure out with Felix watching her. She needed to find Church and Carolina, and maybe together the three of them could figure something out… 

Walking into the small room she had claimed as her own, Tex sighed and leaned against the window overlooking the underground base. She imagined Tucker wouldn’t be happy, but what choice did she have? They needed Carolina. They needed Church. Especially if they were to rescue Wash, and Sarge and Donut and Lopez.

Sighing, she bonked her head against the glass. What was she going to do when she found Church? It was a question she often found herself asking, but now the reality that she had to go out in search of them was settling in. Would Carolina forgive her? Did she want forgiveness? Could she forgive Church? What would the two of them think about her, about her being alive? 

Shit was complicated. And fucked up. Their entire family was one gigantic mess of fucked upness. 

“Hey.” Said a familiar voice, and Tex turned around as Tucker walked into the room, half dressed in his armor. “They said you wanted to see me?” 

Tex nodded as the door closed behind him. “How ya feeling?” 

“Like shit.” He said, nodding at her, “You?” 

Sighing, she glanced down at her armored body. “Not too bad, I guess. But I didn’t take a rock to the head.” Grinning a bit, she looked back up at him, and he cracked a small smile. Walking over to where she was, he sighed. 

“Fucked up situation we’re in.” He said, and she nodded. 

“Yep.” 

“What are we gonna do?”

Now time for the hard part. Inhaling, Tex looked up at him. “I dunno, Tucker. All I know is… I’m getting out of here.”

Tucker’s eyes narrowed, and he stepped forward, “Wait, what?” 

“Church and Carolina are still out there, and who knows if they know what is going on. And they need to know. I need to tell them.” She said, doing her best to explain. 

“So, you’re just leaving us?” 

“I don’t like it, but I trust you guys. You’ll be fine--” 

“How can you just leave us!?” He said, sounding angry.

“Hang on!” She said, stepping back. “You don’t understand, this is for your own good.” 

“Our own good?” He snapped, shaking his head. “How is you abandoning us any good? What are you gonna do, leave us to go run off with Church? Do you even care that Wash is gone?!” 

“I’m a fucking failure, Tucker.” Tex said, suddenly, tired of him not understanding. “You don’t get that, do you? As long as I’m around, you’re not safe. I’m the reason why Wash fuckin’ got shot!” 

“Wait..” He took a step back, looking shocked. “What?”

Running a hand over her face, she sighed and turned around. Looking out the window, she took a deep breath. “Did anyone ever tell you about the other A.I.’s?” 

“No.” He said, following her. Frowning, she looked down as the Rebels ran their drills. 

“Each A.I. is based off of a part of Doctor Leonard Church’s personality. Delta was his logic. Gamma his deceit. Sigma his ambition. Omega his anger and rage. Theta his trust. Epsilon his memory. And then there’s me..” Frowning, she raised her hand and looked down at it, moving her fingers separately. “I’m fuckin’ failure. His failure to keep Allison with him. To keep her alive.” 

Turning back to Tucker, she watched his face as he stared at her. In shock, or awe, or horror. She couldn’t tell. “No matter what I do, no matter how strong I am no matter how hard I try I will always fail, Tucker. I failed the Alpha. I failed Carolina, and York and so many others. But Tucker, I can’t…” Inhaling, she paused. She was getting too emotional, too close to him. 

“I won’t fail you. You, Caboose, Grif, Sarge.. You’re what made me who I am. When Epsilon left me in that unit,” Her voice was filled with bitter rage, “I was nothing but rage and depression. He left me, stuck with his memories until the end of my existence. I was so fucking angry.” 

“But his memories were of you. All of you. So many adventures, so much stupid shit..” Tex could feel herself smile, and as she did she leaned back on the glass. “I stopped wanting to hunt him down and kill him and started wanting to.. To be a part of your team again. Blue Team. Crazy, right?” 

“Tex…” Tucker finally said, stepping forward, but she cut him off. 

“Listen, the point is. As long as I am here, you’re all fucked. We’ll never rescue Wash, because it’s something I want and I have to fail. I’m destined to it. So I have to leave, so that you idiots can succeed.” 

He was silent for a minute, and his hand went to his sword. As he thumbed the grip, he finally looked back up at her, warm brown eyes full of pity. “I don’t think you’re a failure, Tex. None of us do. This wasn’t your fault.” 

“That’s nice of you, Tucker, but--”

“Back in Blood Gulch, all Church would ever talk about was you. How cool you were, how badass you were. He loved you, Tex. Epsilon does, too. In his own fucked up way.” Tucker said, moving forward to stand at the window with her. “I don’t think you’re his failure.” 

“Tucker--” She tried to say, but he cut her off again. 

“So, you failed. That doesn’t mean all of us doing terribly was your fault. What, do you think you have some bullshit aura around you that makes everyone else fail?” He asked, raising an eyebrow at her, and she frowned. Why was he arguing her on this? He had no idea what he was talking about. 

“All your other examples are bullshit, too. So the Director tortured the Alpha to the point where you couldn’t save him. How is that your fault?” 

“I--”

“And you know Carolina, how is anything with her your fault? No one can tell her what to do.” 

“Tucker--” 

“But if you really are going to abandon us, then I won’t stop you. Just know how much it’ll fuck up Caboose.” 

Looking down at her hands out of guilt, she sighed. “I’m going to find Church and Carolina. I’m going to make them help us. They’ll rescue Wash, and we’ll all get off of this planet…” 

“I’ll make sure the guys know. Just… Try not to kill Church too much when you find him, okay?” Tucker said, turning to smile at her. “I get he’s an ass, but he’s kinda my best friend.” 

Snorting, she nodded her head. “Any other special requests?” 

“No, that’s about it.” He grinned back at her, then patted her on the back. “Good luck, Tex. Never thought I’d say this, but.. I’m kinda going to miss you.” 

“Heh.” Moving to the table, she picked up her helmet and looked at it before turning back to him. “Same to you, Tucker.” Putting it on, she felt the helmet seal her suit tight and watched her H.U.D. flicker on. She glanced back at him, smiling, 

“One more thing, Tucker.

“Yeah?” 

“Don’t say goodbye.”

 

 

 

I hate goodbyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoo boy! Finally done with season 11! Thank you all so much for reading, I can't wait to get into the shit I've had planned for over a year now.


	17. Trocadero - Funny Farm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tex attempts to save the Reds and Blues from Locus and Felix, against Carolina and Church's wishes.

The frozen base was large, but not very daunting. It mostly served to train new recruits, and test out new weapons or armor enhancements brought in by Locus. Tex had faced far worse, under much more difficult situations.

But she wasn’t about to go guns blazing into the base. Doing so would almost certainly mean death, or being captured. Church had warned her that Felix and Locus were onto her after her little stunt back at the Rebel Base, and would be actively looking for her to stop her from rejoining the Reds and Blues. To stop her from warning them. 

Church and Carolina had insisted that her way was too risky, posed too many threats. But Tex was tired of waiting, tired of letting the days drag on. Each day the Reds and Blues went without knowing what was really going on was another day they were closer to their deaths. 

With transport grenades hooked safely to her belt, Tex had set out to find her idiots, after a report came in stating that Tucker, Caboose, Grif and Simmons had left the Rebel Base in an attempt to find Wash and the others. It was now or never.

Weighing out her options, she was surprised when the alarm went off. Soldiers ran screaming, as an A.I. warned of a sewage leak in the barracks. As they cleared the area where Wash and the Reds were, she spotted Tucker leading Caboose, Simmons and Grif. 

Activating her camo, she silently slipped down. The Blues reached the door. Tex made her way slowly to where they were, aware that Locus was more than likely nearby. She had to be smart, she had to be careful.

The door opened, and as it did, the alarms went off. Someone had disabled them. 

Straightening up from her crouched position, Tex turned. The base was silent. Too silent. Which meant that whatever plan Locus and Felix had come up with was already in effect. Grabbing the pistol on her hip, she slowly made her way through the snow and ice, trying not to leave too many tracks. She needed to find Locus, or at the very least figure out where he was so she could warn the others. 

Rounding a corner, she watched in sudden abject horror as Control’s men quietly killed the Federal Army’s men who were still outside. 

Not aware that they were under attack, they fell to the ground quickly and quietly. Control’s men stayed hidden in their camouflage, picking off whoever came outside. It didn’t matter who they were, or what color armor they had. They all died. 

To her right, there was a sudden loud noise, a yelp, then a cry for help. Not wanting to leave innocent people to die, she turned and made her way inside one of the bases building. Down a short hallway, there was a door to a medical office, wide open. Inside was a short woman, holding medical equipment as one of Control’s men fell on top of another, dead or at least knocked out. 

De-activating her camo, Tex stepped out of the shadows. The woman immediately turned to her, glaring underneath her purple-striped helmet. “Stay back, or you’ll end up like them!”

“Relax. My name is Agent Texas.” She said calmly, hands up. “I’m with the Reds and Blues, and I’m here to help.” 

“You’re dressed like one of them!” The girl growled, pointing at the dead men at her feet. 

Glancing down at them, Tex looked back up at her and shrugged. “Poor color choice on their part. Now listen, you can believe me or not. I don’t give a crap. I’m here to save my friends, and if you want to make it out of this hellhole, you’ll stick with me.” 

“Oh really?” She asked, stepping forward. “And why would I do that?” 

“‘Cause every single one of them has active camo, meaning you can’t see them. But I’m an A.I., so I can. Stay with me, and you live. Or you can stay here, and take your chances.” 

Slowly, she lowered her weapon. “I want to see your face.”

Feeling confused, Tex frowned at the woman. “My face?” 

“Agent Washington had many fever dreams under my care. In them, he described a woman with long blonde hair and blue eyes named Tex, or Allison. If you really are Agent Texas, you’ll show me your face.” 

Groaning and cursing Wash, Tex unclipped her helmet and pulled it off. She was lucky she had pinned up her long hair, or else it would all have fallen out and would have been a pain to put back up. 

Standing there, feeling exposed, she raised an eyebrow. “There. Good enough for you?”

“Huh.” Putting the medical equipment down, she turned to grab a small pistol. “You really do look human!” 

“Thanks.” Tex grumbled as she put the helmet back on. “Now, can we please ditch this place before my friends die?” 

“Of course. I just needed to make sure you really were you. We can leave now!” She said, turning back to Tex. Sighing, the A.I. nodded her head at her, motioning for her to follow her out of the complex. 

“Stay close to me.” She directed, pulling out her shotgun. “Hopefully, if we’re lucky, they’ll be more focused on the Feds than us..” 

“I am a Fed.” The woman said, pointedly. 

“Oh. Right. What’s your name again?” Tex said, realizing she hadn’t bothered to ask earlier. 

“Doctor Emily Grey. I’m--” The woman was cut off by Tex who held her hand up to silence the woman as they creeped up to the opening. Tex poked her head out of the opening and looked about. All around them, Fed soldiers lay out in the open, dead. It seemed like Control’s men had killed the soldiers in the area she and Dr. Grey were in, then moved on. 

“Okay.” Leaning back, she took a deep breath. “It looks like they’ve moved on. They’re probably moving on to another group, but we don’t know where, so--” 

This time, it was her turn to be cut off. By loud screams. Control’s men had reached the next group of Fed soldiers, and by the sound of it, the men had realized they were being slaughtered. 

Tex had heard the sounds of people being slaughtered before, and yet this was.. Different. More fucked up somehow, knowing the circumstances surrounding their slaughter. The way they had all been manipulated. 

She turned to the other woman, who was frozen by her side. Reaching out, Tex gripped her soldier, then tilted her head to the direction they needed to head in. Getting up, they both darted across the compound. All around them, there were the sounds of people dying and gunfire. By the time they got to a small alcove, the woman was leaning on Tex, shaking inside of her armor. Not really good at the whole “comforting” thing, Tex chose to turn and scope out where they were. They had gone back the way she had come, but the Reds and Blues were gone. Thankfully, they had left tracks in the snow that she could follow. 

“What’s going on?” Dr. Grey asked in a trembling voice, leaning against her more. “Is it the Rebels?” 

“No.” Tex answered, sighing and almost wishing she hadn’t saved the doctor. “It’s hard to explain. When we get somewhere safe, I’ll tell you, but for now we just need to find the Reds and Blues.” 

Looking around to make sure no one was around to follow her, Tex took a deep breath, then stepped out into the open. Dr. Grey followed behind her, and they made their way slowly, following the Reds and Blues tracks. As they got closer, Tex looked up and saw the shimmer of Control’s men, cloaked. Groaning on the inside, she and Grey moved parallel to where the Reds and Blues were, before taking cover behind a Warthog. 

“They’re surrounding them.” Tex murmured, getting out her sniper. Through her scope, she was able to watch the Reds and Blues gather in one spot, and could feel a sense of dread pool in her core. They were walking right into a trap. 

Sure enough, Locus decloaked his armor and stepped forward. As he did so, the men next to him began to uncloak. In any other situation, Tex might have been able to spring forward and kick their asses, but there was one flaw in that plan.

Church and Carolina.

She could see them both to the right of Locus, even if no one else could see. Epsilon had taught her quite a few things, and one of those was the ability to see other A.I. where others couldn't. To jump out of cover was to put them all in danger, something she just couldn’t risk. 

“Damn.” She swore, putting the rifle away and turning to Dr. Grey. “We can’t get to them, not like this.” 

“What’s going on?” The other woman whispered, ducking around the warthog to get a look. 

“To keep it short and simple? Your entire planet has been manipulated by a fucking asshat for years, and they’re going to try to kill the Reds and Blues to kick up the war.” Tex explained, sighing. “But don’t worry, we’ve got a plan to get everyone out of this… Alive.” She was just going to have to be patient, and hope that Carolina and Church knew what they were doing. 

“The mercenary from the Rebels has joined them!” Grey whispered, turning to Tex in shock, who rolled her eyes. 

“C’mon, let’s try to get closer.” Tex said, grabbing Grey’s hand. The two of them snuck down closer to where the Reds and Blues were, just close enough to hear what was being said. As they hid behind yet another Warthog, Tex peeked her head out and looked at where Carolina was, eyes narrowed. 

“How many times have I jumped in front of a bullet for you, Wash? Three?” Felix asked, turning back to the Reds and Blues. Tex could just picture the smirk on his weasel-y face. “Those are some pretty great reflexes, huh? Most people would have to… Plan that sort of thing.” 

“Felix, what are you doing” Wash asked, his gun trained on the orange-and-grey mercenary. Tex watched, hoping and praying Wash would catch on quickly. 

Felix tilted his head at Wash, before tossing the grenade up to Locus. “Just helping out an old acquaintance.” 

Locus handed the grenade over to Carolina, “Are you done?” 

“Oh thank fuck.” Tex whispered. 

“Not even close.” Felix said, looking back out at the group. 

“What?” Dr. Grey asked, and Tex shook her head, focusing on what was going on. 

“Dude!” Grif said, indignantly, while Tucker stepped forward, 

“This doesn’t make sense! That’s Locus, your enemy!” 

“Ri-ght.” Felix said, mocking Tucker as he paced back and forth. “And I’m the charismatic mercenary with a gruff exterior, but a heart of gold. A little too romantic, don’t you think?” 

Tucker shook his head, still not getting it. “But the guy fucking shot you!” 

“Yeah, funny how an act of sacrifice like that buys you so much trust. And so much information.” Felix said, and Tex felt herself getting angrier at him by the second. He wasn’t wrong, she and Wash had grudgingly trusted him after his little act, and it had bought him so much information from the two of them. They should have known better. 

The Reds and Blues were still confused, and now it was Simmons’ turn to state, “But you’re supposed to hate each other!” 

“Oh, we do. After all, you should never mix friends with business.” Felix said, shaking his head. 

Tex frowned, the grip on her sniper rifle tightening. One well placed, shot… 

“I thought we told you to stay the fuck away.” Church said, and Tex swore as she blinked, and suddenly was out of her own body. Church stood in front of her, arms crossed. When talking to her in their weird... A.I. space, he tended to do his best to reflect how she preferred to look. Human. It was weird, yet nice look on him. A younger, softer version of the Director. Before he had become an evil asshat.

 

“And I thought I told you to stop doing this to me.” She snapped, standing up. “You know I hate it.” 

“You could ruin everything.” 

“I’m not charging in, guns blazing, am I?” She asked, rolling her eyes at him. “Besides, you could use me. Carolina is strong, but she’s only human.” 

He shook his head, stepping forward. “We’ve got this under control, Tex.” 

“Oh, fuck that shit. I wasn’t going to do anything until you did something first, anyways. This is just you getting angry because I didn’t listen to you.” They had worked through some of their issues, but working together still eluded them. 

The look on his face showed his disbelief, eyebrows raised. “Is that why you’re gripping my sniper rifle so tightly?” He asked, and she groaned. 

“You’re not my fucking father. I get it, you and Carolina have this shit under control.” She stepped closer to him, until they were standing right in front of each other. Even as holograms, she was still taller than him, and she sneered down at him. “Why don’t you go running back to her? I’ve already told you I won’t do anything until you do. Or do you not trust me?” 

Glaring up at her, he sighed and shook his head. 

“--we just work so well together.” Felix said, and Tex was back in her body. Loosening the grip on her rifle, Tex shook her head. She hated it when Church pulled her into his weird, slowed down A.I. space. It was disorientating for her, and not something she needed. 

“You dirty liar!” Sarge said, and Tex shifted her attention back to what was going on down below. She could worry about Church’s issues with asking for her permission later. 

“Hey, whoa whoa whoa..” Felix said, stepping back with his hands raised. “I never actually lied to you idiots, okay? Well, except for once…” 

In a mocking tone, he clasped his hands together, “You’re some of the galaxy’s greatest soldiers!” 

“So, Felix and Locus.. Are working together?” Dr. Grey asked, and Tex nodded her head. 

“Yeah. They’ve been conning this planet for years.” She explained, sighing. “They’re working for some asshat, Control.” 

“I see…” 

“But why? Why the capture, why make us part of this war?” Wash asked, sounding frustrated. 

“Well, you see--” 

“Felix!”

“No!” Felix turned around and jabbed a finger at Locus. “I’ve had to put up with these morons every day, so you let me have this.” He turned back to Wash, finger still pointed. “You see, someone, somewhere, out in our galaxy, has their eye set on this planet. The only problem, is the inhabitants. Now, if it were up to me, I’d just nuke this place from orbit. But our employer has.. Other ideas.” 

“We have to play this thing carefully, you understand? If an entire planet dies overnight, well, people ask questions! But if you stumble onto this rock and find that the settlers kill each other, well.. That’s just a tragedy.” 

It was smart, Tex had to give it to him. The UNSC could care less about some bum-fuck settlement on the edge of space, and the media would only care so long as it made headlines. A colony killing each other would make the front page for, maybe a day. Small and quick inquiry. Case closed. 

“It was you.” Tucker said, with a sudden note of realization in his voice. “You started this war!” 

Felix laughed again, shaking his head. “Wr-ooong! These people hated each other way before our operation ever showed up, we just had to keep the hate train a-goin’. And let me tell you, you guys have helped so much.” 

There it was, the pang of guilt. The knowledge in knowing that the men she had killed were being conned. They had been innocent. They didn’t need to die. 

“Does it hurt?” Felix asked, coldly. “Knowing just how much death you’ve brought this planet?” 

“Enough!” Locus snapped. “How many times must I tell you, if you want to make the victim suffer, you do it quickly, and efficiently.” 

“There will be no rescue for you. You will die here, today, along with the rest. No one will find your bodies, no one will know the truth, and no one is going to stop us from killing every last person on this planet!”

Carolina turned to Locus, lowering her gun and holding up the grenade. As she did so, Tex stood up. “On my signal, get down to the Reds and Blues.” She said, not even bothering to look at Dr. Grey. 

“All right.” Carolina said, hitting the safety lever on the grenade before dropping it. As it fell, Tex pulled her sniper rifle up and began taking quick potshots at the men on the other side of the small arena they were in. 

The grenade hit the floor, and Carolina flipped off of the platform. As she did, Locus shouted for his men to fire. The grenade exploded, and Control’s men were sent flying. 

“Now!” Tex shouted, and she and Dr. Grey rushed down the slopes to the Reds and Blues. Tex quickly holstered her rifle, and pulled out her shotgun, shooting anyone who got in her way. Wash shouted for the Reds and Blues to shoot, and they began shooting at the soldiers who were around them. 

Tex and Grey joined the group, and Wash turned as they did so. “Tex!?” He asked, and she grinned at him before shooting down a soldier who got too close to where Carolina was. The other Freelancer was facing off against Felix, keeping him distracted. Her armor was still the steel-grey of Control’s men, however, so she doubted anyone had realized yet who she was. 

Felix pulled out a knife similar to Tex’s, and shoved it suddenly into Carolina’s right thigh. Crying out, Lina went to try and take it out, but not before Felix kicked her back into the middle of the Reds and Blues. Wash and Sarge barely seemed to acknowledge her, but Tex stepped forward out of a weird need to protect the woman. 

“Locus!” Felix shouted, and Locus came out from behind the smoke with a large alien-esque gun in his hand. 

“Whatever the fuck you two had planned,” Tex shouted, stepping back, “You better do it now!” 

Glancing up at Tex, Carolina nodded. “Stay close!” She shouted, taking out a teleportation grenade. She threw it at the ground, and there was a brief moment where they existed in a weird sort of limbo dimension, before being thrust to the ground of Carolina, Church and Tex’s secret hideout. 

Pushing herself up, Tex felt the artificial bones in her body creak and ache. Around her, the Reds and Blues got up as well. 

“Uh, what just happened and why did it hurt?” Grif whined as he got up, cracking his neck. 

Dr. Grey was in front of Tex, and she sat up, taking her helmet off to hold a hand up to her temple. “Uh.. Where am I?” 

“I think my insides were just outside.” Caboose said, as Tex got up and looked around. She was standing next to Carolina, who gave her an appraising look as Wash stood up, 

“Is everyone okay?” 

“You know..” Lina said, sounding almost entertained by the sight of all of them. Almost how Tex had felt when she had reunited with them after the ship crash. “I never thought I’d be so glad to see you idiots again.” 

As her armor color shifted back from the steel-gray to her normal turquoise, Tucker finally got up. “Carolina?” 

“That’s not all!” Epsilon suddenly appeared in his holographic form next to Carolina, raising his arms up. “Miss me, assholes?” 

Tex expected a million different reactions to their sudden reappearance from Tucker. Some shouting, maybe crying. But definitely not Tucker throwing his rifle down before running at Church in an attempt to tackle him, 

“You fuck!” He shouted, and Tex stepped aside before Tucker took her down with him. The three Church’s all glanced at one another, as Epsilon said, 

“Huh. Wasn’t expecting that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is what I've been waiting for, for s12. Some people have wondered if/when I'll take some... artistic liberties with the plot and allow Tex to INFLUENCE or CHANGE it. Well, here's where I start to rely less and less on transcripts, and go more and more off of my own imagination.


	18. Paramore - Part II

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Weeks before the break in, Tex finds Church and Carolina.

Weeks earlier...

 

At some point, time lost all meaning to her. How could it have a meaning when each day molded into the next? She was an A.I., she theoretically didn’t need sleep. So each day she kept pushing on, through the jungle, over the hills and mountains… As she did, the flashes of memories started to get worse and worse. One moment she was in a canyon, the next she was watching herself hold a small child in her arms, singing softly. Or in a different canyon, more dry and humid, arguing with Tucker. Whatever was going on with her, and her memories, they were getting worse.

It took her way too long to find a lead on where Church and Carolina could be, and even longer to figure out where they WOULD be. After breaking into what she assumed was a Federal Army base, she had discovered that Church and Carolina had been breaking into the bases that held Freelancer equipment, and stealing it. So far they had recovered a decent amount of armor upgrades and tech, but there was still so much out there. 

After spending too much time staring at the terminal, she had finally figured out their pattern: They were located somewhere in the center of the main content, near an alien temple. From there, they tended to hit at bases further away, then bases nearby. The last base they had hit, they had picked up the BioScan unit. It was far away. The closest base to them had York’s old healing unit. 

It was no longer a matter of finding them, but rather a matter of getting there first.

 

The first guard had been easy. He hadn’t seen or heard her coming. A simple twist of her wrists, his neck was broken, and he fell silently to the floor. It was the second who caused the problems. He saw the body on the floor, and he screamed. She shut him up, quickly, but the damage was done. Alarms blared. Lights flashed. Men rushed to the roof of the base. 

None of them saw her. 

Activating her camo, she stepped back to the edge of the roof and waited for the men to file upstairs, guns at the ready. They all had such advanced tech, more advanced than the men who had attacked her in the Canyon. 

Skirting the edge of the roof, Tex waited until she was right behind them before she pushed her knife into one guys heart, seared blade cutting through his armor. He gurgled and shouted, shooting his weapon but it did nothing. At once, all of the other men turned to her and her… ‘friend’, guns at the ready. She quickly pulled the knife out, tossing it at the jugular of the man closest towards her. 

Pushing the dead body in front of her down, Tex pulled out her shotgun and began to shoot at the men in front of her as they all circled her. There were ten men in total, four were already dead or dying, and six stood in front of her. 

“It’s her!” One shouted. 

“No, it can’t be. This is different--” Said another. 

“Who the fuck cares!? Just shoot!”

Smirking, Tex jumped back as they shot at her, moving out of the circle. From there, she shot one in the back, then used the butt of her gun to knock the other out before shooting him. Two more down, four to go. 

One of the larger guys, the leader, pointed an alien rifle at her. Ducking and dodging, she rushed back to the edge of the roof and pulled out a grenade before launching it at him. He rolled out of the way before it could explode, but two others were unlucky. 

Two left. 

Barreling back at the man, Tex kicked him square in his core, pushing him back. The other soldier tried to shoot at her, but his gun jammed. Grabbing it from his hands, she used it to hit his head, knocking him off the side of the roof. One more. 

The leader groaned, and Tex put her foot on his chest, digging in. “You’re not the Feds or the Rebels.” She mused, tilting her head to the side. “So who the fuck are you?” 

He coughed, then started laughing. “You’re a fucking idiot..” He muttered, looking up at her. She tsk’d, grabbing her pistol out and shooting his leg. 

“Not the answer I want.” 

“This planet… Will fall.” He groaned, “And you with it, you Freelancer piece of--”

Shooting him in the head was easy. Grabbing his ID card was easy. Finding York’s healing unit was easy. Waiting, was not so easy.

Her camouflage was active as she sat in the storage area they had kept the unit, waiting. What had the asshole meant when he said that the planet would fall? She mulled these questions over, wondering if they had any connection to her suspicions with Felix, as she waited. 

Tex wasn’t used to being an A.I., though. She was used to acting human, and the wait killed her. Her legs yearned to stretch, to run, to fight. But she forced herself to sit there, waiting. It had been so long already, she could wait a bit longer.

 

She heard them before she saw them. 

“I don’t understand, who killed them?” Carolina asked as she rounded the corner to the storage area. “Could it be that other merc?” 

“I don’t think so.” Epsilon said. Just hearing their voices sent chills down her spine. Still, she waited as they entered the room. There was a moment where they stopped, and looked at the empty room. No unit. 

“Okay, what the fuck.” Epsilon said, appearing as a tiny hologram next to Carolina. Tex felt her insides turn. Could she do it? Could she reveal herself to them? “Who the hell stole it?” 

“I’m telling you. It had to have been that other mercenary.” Carolina said, turning to them.

Very slowly, Tex stood up and held out the healing unit. “Looking for this?” She asked, deactivating her camo as she said it. Almost immediately, Carolina and Church turned, and Carolina pulled her rifle up, pointing straight at Tex. 

“Who the hell are you?” She asked, and Tex tilted her head to the side, raising an eyebrow. 

“I’m surprised you don’t recognize me, Carolina. Or you, Church.” Tossing the healing unit to the other woman, she stepped back and folded her arms. “Or did forgetting me in your memory unit wipe all of your memories of me?” 

“Wait a sec-- Tex!?” Church asked, sounding shocked. Carolina seemed to get even more tense. 

“I thought you said she was gone.” Carolina said, glancing at the A.I.. 

“How the hell are you here, Tex?” 

She shook her head. “The answer to that is long, and I doubt we have much time. I killed those assholes hours ago, I’m sure Locus and the Feds are on their way already. You got what you came for, I can explain on the way back to wherever you two are bunked up.” 

“We’re not leaving here until you explain.” Church said, and before Tex could even blink, she was outside of her body, in a hologram form. The disorientating feeling almost made her want to vomit, if she had a body to do so. Church stood in front of her,   
walking slowly up to her. 

“What.. The fuck.” She groaned, looking up at him. He was no longer in his armor, instead he looked… Human. Like a younger, softer version of the director. “What the hell is going on?” 

“Call it an A.I. minute, if you will. Time is slowed down, so we can talk. Now how the hell are you here?” He asked, crossing his arms. 

“What, you mean after you tried to kill me!?” She snapped, straightening up and approaching him. He took a step back, and briefly -- only briefly -- looked intimidated by her. 

His face twisted up, “I was doing you a favor.” 

“A favor?” She snorted, shaking her head. “A favor is like, if I say I don’t feel good and you go to the store and get me some cold medicine. It’s not wiping me from fucking existence!” 

“You didn’t want to exist!” He shouted, and if his face could turn red, it would. “I forced you into existence, and you hated me for it! What did you want me to do!?” 

“I wanted you to ask me what I wanted!” If he was going to shout, so was she. “I wanted you to stop doing what every single shitty iteration of Leonard Church does and assume you knew what was best for me! I wanted to know that Carolina was alive, I wanted to put a bullet through the Director’s skull!” 

He looked surprised, for the briefest of seconds, then shook his head and stood back. “Fine, the Director is dead and Carolina is alive. That’s what you wanted, right? So why are you still here?” 

“Because I want to hear you apologize.” Standing in front of him, Tex took a wide stance as she glared down at him. “I want you to admit you fucked up, I want to hear you say sorry, and then I want you and Carolina to help me free Wash, Sarge, Lopez and Donut.” 

“You want me to apologize for what? Doing what I thought was best?” He asked, his eyebrows furrowing. “And what the hell do you mean, ‘free them’? What the fuck happened?” 

Groaning and rolling her eyes, Tex ran a hand over her face. “You can’t do it, can you?” 

“Can’t do what?” 

“Admit you fucked up.” 

Church’s nostrils flared as he closed his eyes, before pinching the bridge of his nose. Tex stepped closer to him, watching him the whole time. Was she surprised he wouldn’t apologize? No. Disappointed? Yes. 

“You wanted to be better than him, here’s your chance.” She said, softly, and he looked up at her. “You have every chance to apologize to me, to all versions of me. He never could. Not even Alpha could.” 

Once more, he closed his eyes, this time turning away from her. “What happened to Wash, Sarge, Donut and Lopez?” 

Tex couldn’t help but feel more disappointment. He couldn’t even look at her. “They were captured, by the Feds.” 

“And the others?” 

“Alive, with the Rebels.” 

“We have other things we need to worry about.” He turned back to her, looking her straight in the eyes. “I’m sorry, Tex.” 

There were so many snarky things she wanted to say, but she couldn’t. She was back in her regular body, staring straight at Carolina. Church reappeared next to the teal freelancer, back in his armor. 

“She and I have talked.” He said, “Let’s get out of here, before Locus and Control’s men get here. I’ll explain on the way back.” 

Carolina seemed to relax, but still shot Tex a few wary glances. “Got it.” She said, and Tex nodded in agreement. As they turned to leave the facility, she couldn’t help but think about how hard it would be to start getting along with Carolina.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was aiming for a similar feel of "Cloak and Dagger" and "Long Time No See" with the intro to s12.


End file.
